#I’m very tempted to try cosplaying them for a con this year | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alabaster-moon · 8 months

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*I* want to hear about your stuff! Tell me about your stuff!

i- that is so ridiculously sweet of you… i thank you, truly (and also totally don’t know where to start ohmigod). this may be a touch long, as i have a lot of stuff, and much of it never gets voiced… apologies for the sheer length.

i mean first and major project (that won’t be posted here for reasons like enjoying being faceless) is my cosplay for an upcoming convention. i’ve been planning since literally last year to make a megamind cosplay, and it’s finally starting to come together! the cape’s nearly done, i have a solid plan on how to do the suit (after a tiiiiiiny mishap with my first attempt… like the cardboard i used to protect layers from paint sticking to the back of the thing… heh) and it’s just… it’s finally looking like it’s gonna work, and i’m Very Excited. i need to buy more spikes though. but that’s on brand.

i’ve also got another thing planned for that con - a dear friend of mine (who should be asleep now, she doesn’t know about it) is a brilliant fic writer, and i only ever see her for this con… i want to try and hand bind one of her fics to give to her. she has given blanket permission before, and it would be a single copy for her; i won’t have time to make one for myself. i’m very, very new to bookbinding: i have no skills, but i have the audacity, which is basically the same thing. fingers crossed i can get that done, i plan on doing the typeset on tuesday, wish me luck~

there are also another fic i was binding - i don’t think that author follows me on here, and they know about theirs, so i can state this too. but that one i was going to bind one copy for me, then one for them, so their copy was Nice and Pretty (and i can fix the bloody typesetting mistake on page 116 for theirs). but like, and this part they don’t know about, i was deciding on what i wanted for the cover of the fic when they said that they buy themselves sort of congratulatory rings when they finish a longfic, and posted a pic of them. so i’m going to find a way to make the cover of this book match the ring they treated themselves with as congratulations. i think it’d be cute. i hope they like it.

last week, i got fabric for two other cosplays; a william james moriarty and a james bond, and while i’m uncertain when i will be able to work on them, i am very excited. i plan to tailor both suits myself (again with the sheer audacity), and because of that i can make fun hidden things… like the crimson red lining in william’s jacket, and pastel pink lining the shade of bond’s manga cover in bond’s. i’m also considering embroidering the characters’ initials into the lining of their jackets too, because if you can go fancy, why not go all out? i managed to get my hands on a lovely wool for the waistcoats rather cheap, which was nice, and the patterns i have seem straightforward enough. i do plan to remake my sherlock’s jacket too, as the one i currently use was my mother’s; it is both too feminine and i would be devastated if i wrecked it… when i make his i’ll make the lining blue. small details, but the thought of them makes me so freaking happy.

a bit of a different one now, but i’ve also set myself on a little personal journey of transcribing the whole of the yuumori musicals - they have become so dear to me, and i want to appreciate them somehow. that being said, my primary art form is music, so short of covering them (which i’m tempted to do anyway, i’ve wanted to learn the violinist’s parts since the first ten minutes of op1) there’s… not a lot i can do. but making sheet music? yeah, i spent a three year degree on that, i can do that much. it’s a tough slog (@ sherlock’s actor specifically who very much enjoys going into free timing just on the good violin parts… hiraryo why you do me like this?) but it’s been so rewarding so far, and honestly im getting faster at it, which i’m also so glad to see. (i also have a very long meta about the role of the organ in op4 that i need to format into a tumblr post… it is currently across like six or seven paragraph messages in my friend’s dms. apologies to her notifications).

not so much a thing i did, but of late i’ve also had a wonderful time exploring the 2.5d musical scene; i had already known about hetamyu since like 2018, and the time between finding yuumori and finding morimyu was Very, Very Short. but i’ve had a friend guiding me through a bunch of others, which has also led me back to my very first manga fandom via tenimyu. i didn’t realise how much i’d missed prince of tennis until i saw those boys on stage… like those characters really were something so special to me growing up, and i’m thankful to have them back. i kind of want to have a look at the hakuouki musicals properly soon (the first live yaisa… iykyk), and i promised another friend that i’d watch the black butler musicals with them, so there’s a journey ahead of me and i am so excited to see what it brings.

there’s also a couple of bits and pieces, meta posts that i’ve been too scared to actually voice (i just see certain similarities between my last fandom and my current fandom and i want to write the comparison post to recommend the thing i enjoy to all my favourite people but Fear yanno cause what if they don’t like it) and all the plot bunnies that i either don’t have the time or don’t have the skill to complete (mostly the time one). i also lowkey decided on a whim to join flufftober, so that’ll be fun. i laid out the doc, and i have a really nice idea for two of the prompts, so we’ll see how that one goes.

also i’m thinking of reviving my university final project… i’d made an utau, and then wrote an album for her, but never got it to a state where i was content enough to release it. it’s like the one thing i regret… but it’s never too late to bring back, right? i can revamp the songs and bring her back properly… if i have time, i really want to do it.

but yeah. that’s my current stuff, barring one or two things that are group efforts and as such idk what i am able to say. hopefully the formatting is somewhat coherent. i thank you for giving me the mental permission to voice it all though… that was lovely of you ^^

#mooniemail #uhhhhh idk what to tag this with #but man felt good to get that all out #thankyou again i needed that about now #also ohmigod i love your posts #your meta about not telling sherlock is one of my favourites #and the it’s time to save the crime lord line like fundamentally changed me i swear #❤️

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penwiper · 4 years

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So a couple days ago, some folks braved my long-dormant social media accounts to make sure I’d seen this tweet:

And after getting over my initial (rather emotional) response, I wanted to reply properly, and explain just why that hit me so hard.

So back around twenty years ago, the internet cosplay and costuming scene was very different from today. The older generation of sci-fi convention costumers was made up of experienced, dedicated individuals who had been honing their craft for years. These were people who took masquerade competitions seriously, and earning your journeyman or master costuming badge was an important thing. They had a lot of knowledge, but – here’s the important bit – a lot of them didn’t share it. It’s not just that they weren’t internet-savvy enough to share it, or didn’t have the time to write up tutorials – no, literally if you asked how they did something or what material they used, they would refuse to tell you. Some of them came from professional backgrounds where this knowledge literally was a trade secret, others just wanted to decrease the chances of their rivals in competitions, but for whatever reason it was like getting a door slammed in your face. Now, that’s a generalization – there were definitely some lovely and kind and helpful old-school costumers – but they tended to advise more one-on-one, and the idea of just putting detailed knowledge out there for random strangers to use wasn’t much of a thing. And then what information did get out there was coming from people with the freedom and budget to do things like invest in all the tools and materials to create authentic leather hauberks, or build a vac-form setup to make stormtrooper armor, etc. NOT beginner friendly, is what I’m saying.

Then, around 2000 or so, two particular things happened: anime and manga began to be widely accessible in resulting in a boom in anime conventions and cosplay culture, and a new wave of costume-filled franchises (notably the Star Wars prequels and the Lord of the Rings movies) hit the theatres. What those brought into the convention and costuming arena was a new wave of enthusiastic fans who wanted to make costumes, and though a lot of the anime fans were much younger, some of them, and a lot of the movie franchise fans, were in their 20s and 30s, young enough to use the internet to its (then) full potential, old enough to have autonomy and a little money, and above all, overwhelmingly female. I think that latter is particularly important because that meant they had a lifetime of dealing with gatekeepers under our belts, and we weren’t inclined to deal with yet another one. They looked at the old dragons carefully hoarding their knowledge, keeping out anyone who might be unworthy, or (even worse) competition, and they said NO. If secrets were going to be kept, they were going to figure things out for ourselves, and then they were going to share it with everyone. Those old-school costumers may have done us a favor in the long run, because not knowing those old secrets meant that we had to find new methods, and we were trying – and succeeding with – materials that “serious” costumers would never have considered. I was one of those costumers, but there were many more – I was more on the movie side of things, so JediElfQueen and PadawansGuide immediately spring to mind, but there were so many others, on YahooGroups and Livejournal and our own hand-coded webpages, analyzing and testing and experimenting and swapping ideas and sharing, sharing, sharing.

I’m not saying that to make it sound like we were the noble knights of cosplay, riding in heroically with tutorials for all. I’m saying that a group of people, individually and as a collective, made the conscious decision that sharing was a Good Things that would improve the community as a whole. That wasn’t necessarily an easy decision to make, either. I know I thought long and hard before I posted that tutorial; the reaction I had gotten when I wore that armor to a con told me that I had hit on something new, something that gave me an edge, and if I didn’t share that info I could probably hang on to that edge for a year, or two, or three. And I thought about it, and I was briefly tempted, but again, there were all of these others around me sharing what they knew, and I had seen for myself what I could do when I borrowed and adapted some of their ideas, and I felt the power of what could happen when a group of people came together and gave their creativity to the world.

And it changed the face of costuming. People who had been intimidated by the sci-fi competition circuit suddenly found the confidence to try it themselves, and brought in their own ideas and discoveries. And then the next wave of younger costumers took those ideas and ran, and built on them, and branched out off of them, and the wave after that had their own innovations, and suddenly here we are, with Youtube videos and Tumblr tutorials and Etsy patterns and step-by-step how-to books, and I am just so, so proud.

So yeah, seeing appreciation for a 17-year-old technique I figured out on my dining-room table (and bless it, doesn’t that page just scream “I learned how to code on Geocities!”), and having it embraced as a springboard for newer and better things warms this fandom-old’s heart. This is our legacy, and a legacy the current group of cosplayers is still creating, and it’s a good one.

(Oh, and for anyone wondering: yes, I’m over 40 now, and yes, I’m still making costumes. And that armor is still in great shape after 17 years in a hot attic!)

#costumes #cosplay #fandom history

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firefly464 · 3 years

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The Gilded Cage - Chapter 1

if you cant tell the first part of this was written by pami a couple weeks back when we first decided to actually do a prequel :D

Written in collaboration with @i-have-this-now :D

Thank you @rivys for beta reading, editing, and writing :D

Master Post

First - Next

~~~

The first thing that Eret noticed when he woke up was the aching pain in his head. Before he even opened his eyes, he could feel the side of his head throbbing. Every tiny movement sent another wave of pain through his mind.

Tentatively, he cracked open his eyes, only to shut them almost immediately as a bright light pierced his vision. The light only caused his headache to grow ten times worse. A wave of nausea washed over him, making him groan internally. The last thing he could clearly remember was being on stream, with each memory after that fuzzy and unreachable.

All things considered, he was probably hungover. He couldn’t remember ever getting drunk, which probably wasn’t a good sign.

Eret tried for a second time to open his eyes, this time pushing through the pain in his head. As he looked around, he noticed his surroundings were blindingly white. It was as if someone pointed a flashlight directly at his face. Squinting, he tried to see where he was.

It was way too bright to see anything he recognised, but even with the weird light he saw, he couldn’t see any of the familiar outlines of his desk or chair. It looked like he was inside some sort of strange room from the looks of it, only just barely able to make out the bright outlines of a couple windows. Oh god, did he get kidnapped? Was he already in the second location? What was going on?

“Whoa, slow down. You’re going to make yourself sick. The potion still hasn’t fully left your system,” Eret was forced to swallow a scream of surprise as he heard his friend's voice. Wilbur’s voice was coming from somewhere beside him, though it was far too bright to actually see him. “Wait, here’s your glasses.”

Glasses? Since when did he wear glasses? “My wha-” Eret began, cut off as an object was pushed into his hands, plasticine and cool to the touch. A pair of sunglasses. He slipped them over his eyes and immediately realized why Wilbur had given them to him. Everything darkened significantly and he could see a lot more than he could before. He was in some sort of van, metal sheets were hammered into the walls of it, as if it had been built by people who didn’t really know what they were doing.

“Hey, so uh, how are you feeling?” Wilbur asked, his voice filled with tension.

He glanced over, surprised to find his friend wearing a strange, revolution based outfit. Maybe they were at a con? That would explain the strange cosplay, but it still didn’t make sense. For one, Eret couldn’t remember ever actually going to any conventions, and besides, he was fairly certain that all all conventions were canceled because of covid.

“I feel like shit,” he admitted, slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Will chuckled slightly, but it sounded forced. “That makes sense. The potion took a toll on all of us.”

“Potion…?” If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t know where he was, or why Wilbur was there too. He didn’t know what was going on. He was confused, lost, and just wanted to go back to bed.

The door to the strange van creaked open and someone poked their head in. “How’s he do- oh! You’re up!”

Eret had to do his best to suppress a shriek of surprise. Entering the van was Fundy, but he was… well, different. Peeking through Fundy’s brown wavy hair were two pointed fox ears, and swishing behind him was a fiery orange tail, tipped with a patch of snow white fur. What the fuck?

“Fundy?”

Wilbur furrowed his brow. “He might be experiencing some memory loss. Eret, do you remember who I am?”

“What?” He shook his head, trying to focus. “Yeah, I don’t-- Memory’s good. Just uhh…” He tried to think of a viable excuse, but nothing came to him. “Y’know.”

“Right.”

A tense silence fell over the room as the three of them stared at each other, unsure of what any of them would say next.

Fundy cleared his throat. “Well, sir, I’ll assume my post at the door again. Let me know if he causes any trouble.”

Wilbur nodded in return. “Make me proud, son.”

With a sharp salute, the fox began towards the door of the van. “Of course, father.” Just as soon as he had entered, he was gone, his tail flicking behind him.

Eret furrowed his brow. Father? That didn’t make sense, Wilbur was only three years older than--

Oh.

Memories came rushing back to him as the pieces clicked into place. He remembered the Final Control Room, the strange falling sensation and... being in the game? No, no. That can’t be right. It wasn’t real, right?

“Eret. I need you to focus. I’m going to ask you a few questions.” Wilbur asked, now more forcefully.

“Er, sorry about that. What- sorry- what was the question?” Eret was tempted to ask him what was going on but he thought he should just answer the questions for now.

Wilbur sighed, as if disappointed. “Why didn’t you press the button?”

“Why didn’t I- what?”

“The button was supposed to open up the walls, wasn’t it? You were going to open up the walls, let Dream in, and drug us all. You were supposed to betray us, why didn’t you?”

“I- I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Eret, don’t lie to me, we found the needles in your bag-”

“I’m not lying.” He steadied his voice, there’s no use shouting at Wilbur. It would only end up making things worse. “I didn’t know what was going on. Wilbur, you have to believe me.”

“You were going to betray us. Why should I believe you?”

Eret didn’t know what to say. This wasn’t real. This isn’t supposed to be real. It was just a game. It was… It was right in front of him. Wilbur didn’t act like himself, he was stern and precise. Was he really even Wilbur? The one he streamed with and joked around with? The one he gathered resources for in Minecraft? He just didn’t understand.

“Wil, what the hell is going on?” Eret started. “One minute, I’m at my PC. Next, I’m here in this… whatever this place is.”

“What do you mean? Eret, you-” Wilbur was cut off.

“Wilbur, I don’t think I’m from here.”

“...what?”

“I- This whole world- This isn’t supposed to be real. I’m not supposed to be-”

Click.

Darkness creeped into the edges of Eret’s vision, spots dancing in front of his eyes. Blood rushed past his ears, drowning out any other sounds. It felt as if his mind was filled with static noise, whizzing and humming. “What the…” He blinked a few times to clear his vision. Wilbur sat on the wooden stool, his eyes glazed over. “Uh, Wilbur? Are you alri-”

Wilbur snapped out of his strange trance and shot to his feet, his gaze filled with anger and hatred. “Eret. You heartless bastard. Do you have any IDEA-”

“What? Wilbur, why-”

“Why the fuck are you even here?! To mock us?! To rub your victory in our faces?!” he was screaming now, his voice echoing through the small room, making Eret’s head pound.

"What the hell are you talking about?! I didn't do anything!" he was on his feet now, his arms raised to protect himself. He didn’t know what was going on, but the look in his friends eyes was enough to make him fear for his safety.

The door to the van slammed open as Fundy came rushing inside. A rush of emotions flew across his face as he took in the situation before him, going from confusion, to shock, and eventually settling on pure hatred, mixed with a hint of fear. His tall, pointed ears were flattened against his head. In any other situation, Eret might have found it funny, but in the moment he was in no mood to laugh. “What the fuck is going on? Why is Eret here?”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out. This son of a bitch was here when I came in, who knows what he might have done.” Will snarled, never taking his eyes off Eret.

“What the fuck do you mean? Wilbur, you brought me here! I’ve been here the entire time! You- Fundy, you saw me!”

“Excuse me? What the hell do you mean by that? I’ve been standing outside this entire time!” Fundy’s hand was on the hilt of his sword, ready to unsheath it and attack at any moment.

Wilbur’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Fundy, trying to figure out what Eret was talking about. “Enough!” he cried, “Fundy, I want you to go and ring the alarm bell. I need everyone here at once. Understood?”

“But what if he-”

His eyes narrowed even further. “Now.”

Eret’s mind raced a thousand miles a minute as he watched his friend scamper outside, most likely to go and sound the alarm. He needed to run, to escape. He didn’t know what was going on, or why Wilbur was so angry at him, but he knew that he needed to leave. The murderous look in his friend’s eyes made it very clear that he wasn’t just going to let Eret walk away peacefully.

The far off sound of a bell ringing echoed through the small van. Eret could feel his heart rate increasing. Any second now, the others were going to come into the room, and it would make escape ten times harder. If he was going to make a run for it, this was his chance.

He glanced at Wilbur, then to the door. Although the taller man was in a defensive stance, he wasn’t armed. There was no weapon in his hands. This could be his only chance.

He crashed through the door, and didn’t look back.

~~~

Master Post

First - Next

Taglist (feel free to send me an ask if you want to be added) @hismilw @violet–majesty @chiera99 @koi-boye @waffle-time-god @miss-oleum @porkgavor @crafted-dreams @harley-the-pancake @lemonaid-ruru @luminousart @somethingtocrowabout @bee-tubbo @firepowder @boombahey @rayjayo

#and so it begins!#this is pretty much all i worked on last week #eh #oh well :D #the eret #eret #wilbur soot #wilbursoot #fundy #The Gilded Cage #Split Realities #mcyt #mcyt au #dream smp #my writing #fanfiction #Dream Team #dreamsmp

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gerbiloftriumph · 4 years

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So you wanna be a king

Or perhaps just cosplay one.

By request, here’s how I, at least, put together my King Graham outfit.

Part 1: Cloak and Cowl

Disclaimer: I’m totally novice at cosplay and only do it for like one event per year if that, so take what you will or throw it all away.

Also I made this like three years ago, so the details get sorta hazy.

Step one: Research. The best part. Take lots of screencaps of Graham from every angle. Hoard the pictures in your phone like a dragon. Stare at them. They’re lovely. He’s lovely.

Ready to commit to this? It’s mildly expensive and Mostly Time Consuming. But that outfit looks so neat...and I love him...okay. Still good?

Let’s do this.

Let’s start with the cloak and the cowl. The bit that everyone notices first, the dramatic part that snaps behind you when you walk and makes 2015 Graham stand apart from his 1980s days (...other than also not wearing pink anymore).

The best part other than the hat, really.

By the game’s own proof, the cowl and cloak are separate pieces. Which makes your life easier.

I chose a springy red fabric from Joann’s called bengaline. It stretches one way, not both, and it’s delightfully weighted so it snaps and catches the wind in pleasing ways--the effect when walking is almost as bouncy as the video game version. Should you choose the same, know that bengaline is primarily plastic and cannot be ironed (seriously, don’t)--steam it or get it wet and let it air dry to remove wrinkles. Check it out here: https://www.joann.com/sew-classics-bengaline-suiting/xprd757777.html

Bengaline does not feel heavy when you pick it up in the store. It becomes heavy as you wear it. Your shoulders might revolt. Feel free to pick something lighter, cheaper, or whatever is available in the shade of red you love most, but remember that the lighter the fabric weight, the happier you’ll be. Please do not pick velvet. A day at con reveals all truths. Be aware of what you’re putting your shoulders through.

For your reference, according to the receipt I found I apparently bought 6 yards of it (with a half off coupon). This is overkill. You probably don’t need 6 yards. I think I have a ton of it left over and smooshed into deep storage. But then again, it’s red and red is always useful in cosplay, so it doesn’t hurt to have leftovers.

Why reinvent the wheel? I used this tutorial here for the base cloak: https://dangerous-ladies.tumblr.com/post/41564161303/so-you-wanna-wear-a-cape-god-this-new

yes you want a circle cape, not a square cape. circle capes catch the wind better. you’ll be able to tell the difference, i promise.

Side note: you might think you want your cloak to touch your ankles. It looks like Graham’s does. You do not want this. When it scrapes the ground at comic con or renfest, it will get filthy, it will shred, and people (especially you) will step on the back of it. It might even get eaten by an escalator at con. Go up an inch or two--a little goes a long way. It’ll still look great, and you won’t choke.

plus depending on how you stand no one can tell anyway.

Now, for my numbers:

I am 5′6″. I chose 56.5″ (that includes my hem allowance) so that the cloak itself actually ‘swings’ at 55.5″. I copied the tutorial’s neck hole exactly (6″ ‘swing’).

Follow the tutorial’s instructions for the rolled hem. Pin everything. You will hate pins. You may bleed. Doesn’t matter. The cosplay gods are cruel. Keep pinning. If you picked bengaline like I did do not iron it just suffer in silence. Go slowly and carefully, and fight the curve to be as flat as you can.

Time to sew! Put on Game Grump’s King’s Quest 5 LP because it’s the best, and go slowly around your circle at the default sewing machine stitch.

I don’t recommend hand stitching. There is too much fabric and you want to have some sort of life at the end of this. Check with your local public library or that weird relative you forgot about if you don’t have a machine yourself.

Cool, that’s a cloak! Admire it, it’s lovely. I mean, you don’t have a way to wear it yet, but you’re maybe 68% done here so, that’s great!

Cowl time!

I don’t have reference images for what I did three years ago, and there are probably better ways to do this. Feel free to experiment, but here’s how I (probably?) did it:

Measure around your arms and upper chest approximately where the cowl will lay, and make sure you give yourself extra inches so you can still move comfortably. For me, that’s around 48-50″ around. I don’t remember what motivated my number selection for the neck part--it must be wide enough to go around your head, plus room to play with it to make it lie in fun ways like Graham’s. Apparently I picked 28″.

Play with scrap fabric, or if you have lots of extra red feel free to make extra sizes. My cowl looks like this:

That’s 14″ along the neck, 24″ along the body, and a length of 18″--but with a secret 6.5″ tucked inside the cowl itself, so the fabric really is 24.5″ long.

Why would I do that?

To tuck the cowl into the jerkin/undershirt collar and make it look seamless, like a video game character.

Ain’t no sight of tunic around that neck.

Also, the extra fabric gives it more stability and strength, allowing you to play with the collar and get that high edge he has rather than flat fabric. I’d even considered stringing a wire through it in early days, but if you use bengaline the fabric is sturdy enough on its own. Your fabric selection may act differently.

So, I’ve “hidden” 6.5″ worth of fabric in the collar. What would that look like as a pattern? I don’t remember for certain since I didn’t write it down but it probably looked like this:

okay maybe like half an inch seam allowance. an inch is probably overkill. don’t be me.

Since I didn’t want the thickness of a real hem, I did, like, a herringbone stitch (looks like zigzaging triangles) along the part that gets tucked in to the shirt to prevent any fraying, and then I folded it at the dotted line and sewed it in place to get a permanent line.

Unfolded, it looks like this:

In practice, it looks like this:

From the back, it ends up looking a little something like-a this:

Cool, cloak and cowl! You still don’t have a way to wear it, but the pieces are nice. Maybe unfinished and kinda boring, though, since Graham’s King Cloak is Such Luxury.

I mean, it’s fine that way. But it feels unfinished if you’re doing Prologue or Ch2 Graham.

Trimming time~.

I bought one 1″ wide red satin trim roll, and two 2 ¼” red satin trim rolls. Pin the wider trim all along the INNER bottom hem of your cloak (the side with the rolled hem on it), sew slowly. Get your second fresh roll so you don’t run out midway, and do the same on the EXTERIOR. This way, any wonky uneven lines are hidden on the inside and less noticeable.

Nice rule of thumb for cosplay I’ve learned: if you can’t see a mistake from 5 feet away, no one can. Don’t panic.

Do not sew both sides at the same time. It’s tempting, but hard enough to sew around a curve already without trying to keep both sides remotely even. To finish, I folded the long ends over, matched the hem with the cloak, and went for it.

And do the same to the bottom of the cowl with your thinner trim--you only have to do the exterior since no one can see the interior of that piece, so it’s much easier.

Cool! You’re done! You’ve got a cloak and cowl, trimmed and gorgeous.

“But Gerbil,” I hear you complain, “I still can’t wear it! It doesn’t have any attachment to me, even though I have lots of attachment to it since I just dumped like a hundred hours and at least $50 into it.”

Fair enough.

If you used bengaline like me, you’ll discover very quickly that it’s heavy heavy heavy. It’s gorgeous and thick and looks great, but the weight. Sure, it didn’t feel heavy when you bought it, when you sewed with it, when you first put it on. But it’s hour six of wearing it, and your shoulders hate you. If it hangs off your neck like you would assume a cloak should, you will choke. It hurts. The weight must sit on your shoulders.

Luckily, this costume has two separate pieces, and the cowl is going to hide where it hooks to you.

You’re going to buy two snap clips. The big ones. Like, at least an inch. You’re going to pick out an anchor t-shirt from Goodwill. It literally doesn’t matter what it looks like, but it’s going to be one size too small and will go up to your neck. You need it to be totally comfortable to wear (the more breathable the better--this is a hot cosplay), but tight enough that it will not shift under the weight of your cloak movement, thus the smaller size. Sew the snaps to the inside of the cloak and just above your collar bone on the shirt.

(apparently Superman wears it like this too, go figure)

(you might want to wait to sew the snaps on until your jerkin/tunic is finished before you sew the snaps to your anchor shirt, so you can be sure the collars match up--you need to have room for the snaps to sit on the anchor shirt, but still sit under your tunic)

(if you think of a better solution, have at, but please, do not tie it around your neck regardless of the type of material you bought. If anyone steps on the back, yourself included, and it’s attached by your neck, you’re out for the day. Do not.)

(also, one more pitch for the snaps--say your cloak does get caught on something. a wandering dragon, a passing knight’s sword, or ye olde con escalator. if it’s attached by snaps, not ties, it’ll pop right off with enough force, leaving you unharmed, but the snaps are heavy duty enough to stay put all weekend or multiple years without trouble)

And you’re done. That’s a cloak and cowl fine enough for a king, friend. Or at least fine enough for comic con.

A note on the out and about: you’re probably going to feel worn out after a few hours at con. Take frequent sitting breaks. After a few times wearing it you’ll get used to it and can fly around in it all weekend without trouble, but the first few times add unexpected strain to your neck and shoulders so take it a little easier.

Also, high key recommend handwashing the cloak (yes, the whole thing, it smooshes down well in water, I promise, it’s doable, just difficult) in your (clean!) bathroom sink with handwashing detergent, and laying it out to dry on towels. I wouldn’t trust the satin trim to hold up to a machine, but it withstands sink washing just fine.

(Was that useful? Was that atrocious? Do you want more pieces how-to’d? Do you want a full How-To-Graham Tutorial? Let me know, happy to ramble more!)

#King's Quest #kings quest #King Graham #cosplay #maxwelljacks #i really don't actually know if this is helpful or a disaster but since you've asked #i can't say no to helping #feel free to ask me for details #tutorial

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commander-hanji-zoe · 4 years

Note

Do you have any advice for a new blog?

🌸 Oh this is such an interesting ask, I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now, sorry it’s taken a while to get back to you but I was thinking how best to answer it! While this blog has only been around for 3 years and I’ve only really started posting in it recently, I have had my main tumblr blog for 10 years and several side blogs with quite a few followers so I’m hoping I can provide some insight! I do apologise as this turned into a bit of a ramble that I feel is about tumblr but beings to overlap into life advice lol - I blame my age. 🌸

1.) I would say firstly, enjoy it. I feel sometimes there’s a lot of pressure to get loads of followers, create new content etc. and you can forget why you’re here. I got tumblr to reblog photos of things that made me happy from bands to tattoos, movie stuff, art etc and occasionally I would forget that and end up getting bogged down in comparing stats and myself to others. So yeah, enjoy it and remember why you joined ^_^

2.) If you love work that others create (writing/art/gif sets etc.) show your appreciation not just with likes but with comments and reblogging where you can/feel comfortable doing so. Likes are great and always appreciated but comments help to inspire and reblogging means more people will see their work. It encourages content creators to continue creating, it’s also a really good way of gaining followers and make friends. If you support others they will likely support you in return.

3.) Share the art/fan art/cosplay photos you love as per above - but don’t repost work. This was something I wasn’t really aware of when I first joined tumblr, a lot of people would just save photos from google or deviant art (it was a very different place back then) and post them on tumblr to show appreciation. But often there would be no artist detail or link to the artist, instead if you find something you like reblog it from the creator. If it isn’t on tumblr and you’d really like to post it here, contact the creator and ask their permission to post - then include a link in the post and explain you have the artist’s permission.

4.) Talk to people :) - Okay like Alice in Wonderland here’s some advice I could really use sometimes! Through tumblr I have met some of the most amazing friends. When I first started out I started chatting to a girl who went to the same Uni as me, we met up to go for coffee, browse record shops and saw The Vaccines together. I’ve also met numerous people who encouraged me to go to Hobbit Con in Germany - I had the most amazing time, remained friends, one of them came to my wedding. I guess the message here is that internet friends are great and you never know what a friendship can blossom into. If there’s someone whose work you admire or blog you love, don’t be afraid to reach out and send a message, even if you feel a bit silly (I often do!).

5.) Tags - My take on tags is pretty simple, tag correctly. I often tag things quite heavily but I make sure that I only tag characters that feature in a post or fandoms that feature in that post etc. You often come across posts where every character in the show has been tagged, I get why people do it, it means the post will come up in more results but it is rather infuriating when you’re looking for something specific. It also looks messy and can make things hard to find on your own blog. So yeah tag the show/film/book etc, tag the relevant characters, add whatever tags you want regarding your feelings/emotions about the post or thoughts on it. But ideally keep it relevant. On that note, tag ships (people often blacklist ships they dislike or that they find problematic) so doing this helps everyone. Anything that’s only really suitable for people 18+ tag however you see fit (due to Tumblr’s changes last year we had to revert to tagging things on the citrus scale again so I tag anything like that as lemon as well as nsft) Finally Trigger/content warnings - I do use them, some people put warnings on everything, some people don’t do at all. Again like with shipping it is helpful for people who have

6.) Remember to take breaks - tumblr can be a little addictive and easy to pass time (like social media) so remember to take breaks, when you get back they’ll be loads of new stuff on your dashboard to look at ^_^

7.) Follow loads of blogs! I probably should have put this higher up. But have a think about the kind of content you want to see and spend some time searching for blogs that fit that, I also find it’s nice to follow some more aesthetic blogs or blogs that are calming/relaxing, seeing things like that on my dash is always a reminder to have a breather!

8.) Enjoy playing around with themes - decide what you want your blog to be about (and remember there’s nothing wrong with having a main blog that’s a little bit of everything you love as well as personal stuff!) and then have fun with the settings. There’s a lot of free tumblr themes, some of which are pretty neat and user friendly in terms of customisation. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you’re stuck.

9.) Side blogs are also really great. I begun to create side blogs because I didn’t want to spam my main blog with Game of Thrones, The Hobbit, Red Dead Redemption 2 or Attack on Titan, so I created side blogs. I still post about all these things on main but not as frequently. A side blog can also be good if you want to create a blog you can share with employers - I have a side blog for my photography and one for my writing. Sideblogs are also a good way of keeping certain material away from the blog where people in real life are most likely to find you. Generally I won’t post 18+ material on my main blog, so smutty fan fiction etc. goes on the side blogs. As a side note, when you have a side blog you cannot like posts or ask questions as that side blog - it will be from your main blog.

10.) Try not to get disheartened if you create original content and it doesn’t get a lot of attention at first. When you create a blog it can take time to gain followers/traction. But remember as per point 1, that Tumblr should be fun and creating content should first and fore mostly be for you and your enjoyement. But if you continue to create, tag appropriately but also show appreciation for fellow creators there’s no reason why in time you won’t flourish. And as per point 3, if you reblog others work there’s a chance they in return will reblog your art.

11.) There’s extension kits you can get for tumblr, I know some people use them and find them helpful. I’m not sure they’re as poplar/needed now as they used to be. I used to use one but don’t feel the need now, however might be worth a google or asking someone more knowledgeable to see if it’ll work for you.

12.) You can blacklist tags through settings, if there’s any ships, characters, things you’d rather not see on your dash or that you find upsetting or triggering I’d recommend blacklisting them. If people tag correctly you shouldn’t much/if any of it.

13.) Under blog settings you can also choose whether you want your blog to be searchable via the email address you registered with and on google. I switched this off pretty much as soon as it became a feature! My blogs, even my main blog are a piece of me which is only shared with a select few people in real life. I really do not need my colleagues, employers, certain family/friends finding this!

14.) Use Queues! I adore a queue.... Once I discovered they were a thing I try to have around 100 posts in my queue on main at any time. You can amend how many times you post a day (mine is around 8-12 times, I change it when i go away). It just means your blog remains active even if you can’t really log on for a week or two or if you’re on holiday. Occasionally I’ll add original posts into my queue with writing, it can be nice to come back and see the feedback. A lot of people put ‘queue’ in the tag, but you’ll realise most people have a quirky tag. For example on main mine is - one does not simply queue their way through tumblr. And on my red dead blog it’s - I had a god damn queue! Sadly on here I haven’t got one yet!

15.) Finally I would say engage in discourse as little as possible. It can be tempting and while drama can be fun for a while, even just to watch from the outside it can quickly escalate into something nasty and toxic. At first you might want to join in but tumblr can be, well it can be a lot at times and very noisy with everyone screaming their opinions and trying to be louder than the person before. I would say no fandom is inherently toxic, but it happens. A fandom I was heavily involved in last year had so much discourse and there was so much drama that even though I wasn’t involved in it my anxiety was through the roof, I had a panic attack over it and felt paranoid. After speaking to other older members in the fandom I felt much better (they too were annoyed with what was happening) and we realised that essentially a lot of it boiled down to a real lack of critical thinking. I’m not saying don’t get involved at all, sometimes I have seen things where I’ve felt things need to be said/action taken especially when it comes to intolerance and hatred. But I would say when you do engage - pick your battles. (I hope this last one makes sense). I started writing a lot more and going into the politics of it and ranting about bigots and then thought that’s probably enough! 😁

I hope this post helps! Like I said I’ve never been asked something like this so it took a bit of thinking but these are some of the key thoughts I had.

edit - I meant to add that obviously the above is just my opinion and based on my experiences on tumblr/thoughts about things.

#asks #blogging #tumblr stuff #advice I guess?#rambling #non aot #non snk

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sunshinetrappedinourhearts · 5 years

Text

Nathmarc month day 29: Fantasy AU

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16491026/chapters/39420499 Or, in my case, a vampire AU LMAO- hey, it’s fantasy right...? Oh man, this was nice to write. I had to stop it at some point though, because it was getting ridiculously long (again... stop giving me AU’s lol) PLUS, I wasn’t sure if it would be appreciated, as in I chose to not write out... certain things. You’ll get what I mean. Anyways. Here ya go. c: @nathmarcnovember BY THE WAY! I’m in Paris right now (I’m from the Netherlands myself) for Y/CON and I’ll be cosplaying Marc with my girlfriend as Nathaniel! c: Which is super nice of course, but yeah, this is why day 30 will be delayed, probably. I’ll try to write it tomorrow (one day late), but we’ll see!

The day Nathaniel arrived, it was grey and rainy. The sun was nowhere to be found, and it made the whole town look ominous and a little shady. It made him shiver. Although that could also have been caused by the cold of the early autumn that year.

Absently, he wondered why on earth he had chosen to attend college here again, instead of a normal big city where all his former classmates had gone to. But then he remembered that it was one of the most prestigious art schools in the country, and that it would definitely help him grow.

He probably just had bad timing; in the coming days the sky would surely clear up a bit. He should just stop being so prejudged and give the small town a chance.

***

It didn’t clear up the next few days, and his first day of college it was even cloudier than the day he arrived, yet there was no rain. He was carrying an umbrella, staring at the trees already losing their leaves, they looked sad and lonely, and Nathaniel felt like capturing them in a drawing. He was imagining the way he could do that, maybe using charcoal pencils, or ink… when suddenly, he hit something hard with his shoulder and he quickly looked up into a pair of the brightest green eyes he had ever seen.

‘Ah, sorry!’ he said, grabbing the umbrella he had just dropped. ‘I was lost in thought…’

The boy in front of him seemed to be about the same age as him. He was just a little taller, and he had black hair tied in a messy ponytail. Nathaniel noticed he was wearing fingerless gloves and black nail polish. It contrasted strongly against his very pale skin. But it were the eyes that captured Nathaniel’s attention. They were so intensely radiant that he found it hard to look away. As if they were enchanting him. Never before in his life had he seen such dazzling eyes.

‘N-no, my bad,’ the boy said, pulling Nathaniel out of his daze, he then noticed the other was awkwardly scratching his head, taking some papers he had apparently dropped on the ground.

Nathaniel quickly leaned down to help him. They were lined pages, scribbled full of words, and it was tempting to read, but Nathaniel quickly gave them back to him before he could.

‘Thank you…’ He smiled a bit, putting the papers back in the map he was carrying.

‘Are you attending the art school here?’ Nathaniel blurted out.

‘Oh, I am, yes, I’m starting today. I’m in creative writing. What about you?’

‘2D and digital art,’ Nathaniel said, smiling softly. ‘Starting today as well. I specialize in comic and cartoon style, actually, but I also do traditional art.’

‘That’s amazing,’ Marc answered. ‘Maybe I’ll see you in the joined lessons some time, then.’

‘Joined lessons?’

‘Yeah, they have those, making people in different art divisions cooperate with each other to make big projects.’

Nathaniel felt a wave of excitement run through his body as he heard those words. Especially since there were a lot of things he wasn’t too good at, like script writing.

‘That’s amazing…’

He looked at the other boy, then quickly reached out his hand to introduce himself. ‘I’m Nathaniel,’ he smiled.

‘Ah, I’m Marc…’ Marc took his hand, shaking it shortly before letting go, a hint of pink on his cheeks. ‘It’s nice to meet you…’

***

Marc’s prediction happened sooner than Nathaniel expected, already during the first week he spotted him during a joined course.

Their eyes met for a second, and Nathaniel got lost within them, quickly pulling away when their teacher spoke.

Apparently, they were going to do a cooperation between creative writers and artists , and they’d be allowed to choose their own end product, for example a picture book, a visual novel, or...

A comic book.

It had been Nathaniel’s dream for ages to create a comic book, and he desperately hoped that this would finally become reality.

Marc appeared beside him only a second after their teacher told them to find a partner, and Nathaniel almost tripped as he was still getting up.

The other boy grabbed his shoulder, and grinned a little sheepishly, a light blush on his cheeks. ‘Do you… erm… want to work together?’

***

That day, when Nathaniel walked towards his apartment, he didn’t notice the dozens of lit up eyes watching him from a distance.

He didn’t see it the next day either.

Or the next.

Or the following.

***

‘Nathaniel…?’ Marc asked a few weeks later. They were in the final stage of the comic book they were working on. It was about a superhero named Ladybug, one that always inspired Nathaniel during his middle and high school years, when he still lived in Paris.

He’d always wanted to create a comic about her, to honour her, and of course, to finally bundle all the story ideas he had about her.

Marc had happily agreed, and ever since, they had worked together perfectly, their skills complementing each other.

‘Yes…?’ he answered, looking up from the sketch of the final few pages he was working on. Marc was currently coloring the pages and filling in the speech bubbles.

‘I’m just wondering, where in town do you live…?’

‘Oh, in the outskirts, near the forest,’ he answered. ‘Why do you ask? Wanna work at my place sometime?’

‘Ah, that, too… i-if you want to, that is!’ Marc’s cheeks reddened a bit and Nathaniel found it cute. ‘But that’s not why I asked… It’s because, well… I just want to tell you… to be careful walking home… and… don’t go too late…’

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows. ‘Why’s that?’

Marc averted his gaze, and an uncomfortable sense of foreboding settled itself in Nathaniel’s stomach. The other boy was acting a bit strangely and it didn’t suit him.

‘…strange things have been happening in town, lately… Have always been, actually, but… it’s back, kind of…’

That confused him even more. ‘I can’t follow you…’

Marc looked up, locking their gazes carefully. Nathaniel hold his breath, because Marc’s eyes were mesmerizing… so deep… so…

‘J-just, be careful, okay?’

Nathaniel nodded, but he still didn’t understand what the writer boy was talking about.

***

Two weeks later, he found out what Marc meant.

He was on his way home from a late lecture, walking through the quiet part of town, almost reaching his apartment, when a hooded figure jumped in front of him, his face hidden.

Nathaniel’s heart stopped for a moment, and he took a step back, uneasiness tingling through his limbs.

The figure walked closer, slowly, and alarmed, he turned around, only to find an identical person on the other side, closing him in.

Another appeared.

And another.

And Nathaniel dropped his bag, his hands shaking.

What… what was happening…?

What were they doing…?

He had no money, no belongings, nothing!

What was it they wanted…?

Absently, he thought of Marc’s words a few weeks ago, and wondered if this is what his writer friend had been warning him for.

Chewing on his lip, he let his eyes flash from the one person to the other, searching for a way to get out, but there was none.

He was a goner.

Done for.

He didn’t know what was happening but-

He was trapped-

His heart was pounding painfully loud against his chest, and he thought for a moment that maybe, he’d die of that first before these strange hooded people could get to him.

Maybe that would be better.

Then, as one of them took another step closer, only a few feet away from him, he noticed their unnatural glowing purple eyes, and they made him think of Marc’s-

Before he could think anything more of it, the person moved too fast for Nathaniel’s eyes to follow, and he breathed-

He was dead-

No doubt-

He was gonna-

Gonna die-

Lost and forgotten-

Forever-

But then, as he opened the eyes he didn’t even remember closing, there was another figure in front of him suddenly, hissing at the other guys.

‘Get away, this one’s mine.’

Nathaniel blinked.

That voice-

‘Oh yeah? Do you have proof?’ the purple-eyed one called. It was a male voice, and the owner of it had stepped away a bit.

‘We’re four against one, kid,’ one of the others said.

Nathaniel moved a little closer to the figure that was apparently, for God knows whatever reason, protecting him.

Maybe it was a bad idea-

Maybe he’d be slaughtered by this one soon instead-

But-

There was no other option-

‘One, yes, one you cannot beat, you lowlifers. Do you have any idea what family I’m from?’

‘Rhy, that one’s from the Anciel family, we gotta be careful!’

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows, he had no idea what it meant, but the purple-eyed guy, who seemed to be the leader, took another step back and cursed under his breath.

‘Well, you’re lucky today, asshole,’ he growled. ‘But don’t think you can fool me. That one is not marked. So if you want to keep him, you better do that.’

The figure in front of Nathaniel didn’t seem impressed. ‘Get away. Before you start to regret it.’

And they went.

Nathaniel breathed, falling to the ground, only now realizing how stressed he had been from the whole situation. Grabbing his bag, he just inhaled and exhaled, gathering his thoughts.

What-

What on earth-

‘Are you… alright… Did they hurt you…?’ the voice belonging to the figure in front of them spoke. It was too familiar, too…

He turned around, and Nathaniel’s eyes widened.

‘Marc…’

The boy’s eyes seemed to sadden for a moment as he took off the hoodie of his shirt, revealing his face. He reached out his hand and Nathaniel took it, without hesitating, getting up.

His hand was warm and his touch gentle yet firm, and somehow, Nathaniel wanted to cry a little bit, because he felt like he was safe.

Marc however, still looked saddened, and he didn’t understand why.

‘Y-you saved me, thanks…’

Marc shrugged. ‘A little, but…’

‘But?’

His eyes flashed from left to right, and then he looked back at Nathaniel. ‘…I’ll walk you home, okay? I-if you want to, I… can come in and… explain…’

Nathaniel nodded, and they walked to his home in silence. He stayed close by Marc’s side, their shoulders almost touching.

***

Not much later, they were in his apartment, the both of them a warm cup of coffee in their hands. Nathaniel had finally been able to relax, but his mind was spinning with questions.

‘So… what did you want to explain to me…?’ he asked.

Marc took a sip of coffee, and then looked at him, his eyes very sad once again. Nathaniel preferred them happy, and shining with excitement.

‘Those figures that cornered you… they were… vampires…’

Nathaniel frowned. ‘They what?’

Marc looked him in the eye, dead-serious.

‘Vampires.’

He moved back a bit, because, really…?

Was he really joking in a moment like this?

When he had been so afraid, so scared?

He was just… mocking him?

‘…if this is your idea of a joke, I seriously misjudged you. It’s not funny.’

Marc’s eyes widened. ‘I’m n-not joking. I just… This is why I didn’t tell you everything when I warned you… You wouldn’t believe me..’

For a moment, Nathaniel thought to himself. If, but only if vampires really existed, then the whole situation suddenly wouldn’t be so strange anymore, right?

Because no money… no wealth… no things…

There was literally no reason for the four figures to have attacked him.

Unless… they had wanted his blood.

Literally.

But yeah, vampires didn’t exist so it was all total bullshit.

‘That one’s from the Anciel family, we gotta be careful!’

The sentence one of the figures had said about Marc suddenly flashed through his mind, and he looked at Marc carefully, squinting his eyes.

‘If that’s true… does that… mean… you’re a vampire as well…?’

Marc averted his eyes. And then slowly, very slowly, he nodded.

Nathaniel furrowed his eyebrows at first because-

It couldn’t be true-

It was ridiculous.

Totally ridiculous.

But then he looked back at Marc, carefully, observing his expression.

It didn’t change. He was trembling slightly, and his eyebrows were cast downwards, in a sad frown. He didn’t meet his gaze.

No freaking way-

Nathaniel chewed on his lip.

‘You… You are… serious.’ It sounded half like a question, half like an observation.

And Nathaniel stood up, taking a step back.

Because he had never seen Marc eating-

Or drinking-

Except his coffee just now-

And his skin was so pale.

His eyes so ridiculously bright.

Could it seriously be…

He took another step back.

And Marc finally looked at him, standing up.

‘I’m not lying. I swear…’

Nathaniel stared.

His head spinning.

‘Show me.’

‘W-what?’

‘Y-your fangs.’

Nathaniel felt his cheeks heat up and he quickly averted his eyes, but then decided it was best to keep looking at him.

Marc was blinking.

For a while, he was silent, then he walked up to him.

Nathaniel wanted to get away, but at the same time, his mind was convincing him that Marc was probably joking because vampires were all one big legend, but he was also a little scared, but also he trusted Marc and-

He was a mess.

Marc, in turn, stopped walking when they were only inches away from each other, and he opened his mouth, a little awkwardly.

And Nathaniel saw.

He wasn’t kidding.

‘T-then… I never saw you eating because…’

Marc closed his mouth. ‘Because I don’t need it. I don’t need drinks as well.’

He nodded at the empty cup of coffee. ‘I can drink, or eat, but, I just don’t taste anything. And it’s not… really enjoyable, but, well, I can…’

‘S-so… those… other…’ Nathaniel frowned. ‘…other… vampires… they got away, because…?’

Marc sighed. ‘Because I belong to a pretty powerful family… I’m a bit of an outsider there, but, well, I still carry their name, and they turned me, so… I can use it in situations like this.’

He scratched his head.

‘The problem is that it won’t help forever… In your case…’

‘Why is that…?’ Nathaniel sat back down on his couch, and Marc carefully followed his example, and Nathaniel noticed he put a considerable amount of distance between them.

Was he… uncomfortable…?

Nathaniel found that he himself, wasn’t… so much. Because if all this was true, Marc was still Marc, and he was still his partner, still a great writer, and well… He saved his life… Especially if those other… people were vampires.

‘Because they probably noticed I was lying.’

‘About… saying… I w-was… yours…?’ Nathaniel felt a little hot suddenly, and he started fumbling with his hair to focus on something else.

‘Y-yeah…’ Marc said, his cheeks pink as well.

Maybe his room was just pretty warm, yeah, that was probably it.

‘Vampires… they can… well… kind of… Mark their… partners… As in… they can pretty much claim a human… or other vampires… as their own… It’s a special process. When you undergo it, other vampires can’t touch that particular person anymore. The only person who can drink that person’s blood is the vampire who marked them. I kind of… implied you were like that to me, but vampires can usually tell whether a person is marked or not. And you’re not, so… they’ll come back for you at some point.’

‘Why me?’

Marc looked at him, fumbling with his gloves a bit. ‘…your blood smells… special…’

Nathaniel breathed.

‘To you, as well?’

‘Y-yeah. But don’t worry, I’m completely under control. I don’t drink much blood. Only blood we have stored at home.’

But you still think my blood smells special…

‘I’m not scared,’ Nathaniel said. ‘You’re Marc. No matter if you’re vampire or human.’

His eyes lighted up for a bit, and a small smile played around his lips. ‘T-thank you… That… means a lot…’

Nathaniel smiled.

Marc then got up. ‘I’ll get going… Just… I’ll walk you home from now on, okay…? I… It’s not that I think you’re weak or something, just…’

‘No, it’s okay. Thank you. I understand. That’s… kind of you. I’d appreciate that.’

Nathaniel couldn’t imagine walking that dark road alone anymore, not when thirsty vampires could appear from every corner. Now that he knew… He shivered.

***

Starting the next day, Marc walked him home every day. Usually, he’d stay for a while, drinking a cup of coffee, because according to him, it was the one thing that could actually close to make him taste something.

Weeks passed, and Nathaniel started feeling guilty to make the other boy walk him home all the time, and something was gnawing his mind… stealing his thoughts.

One day, he finally found the courage to ask.

‘Marc…?’

‘Hm?’ The other boy looked up from his notebook, he had been working on an assignment for class.

‘I uh… you… erm… You are walking me home every day now, and… I appreciate it a whole lot, and I like your company, but… isn’t it… a lot more convenient…’ he paused, taking a deep breath, and then shot out all the remaining words at once. ‘…ifyoujustmarkme.’

Marc dropped his pen. ‘W-what?’

Nathaniel breathed, his head was burning, and he wondered vaguely if it was now as red as his hair. He looked at Marc carefully, but his eyes were so widened, so shocked, and his cheeks so red that Nathaniel felt even more embarrassed and he averted his gaze, chewing on his lip.

‘Well… If you… mark… me… like you t-told me… then… you d-don’t need to worry so much anymore… right?’

Marc inhaled deeply. ‘Do you have any idea what you’re asking?’

‘Yes? I mean? I guess? Probably?’ Nathaniel blinked.

Marc picked up his pen again.

‘Nathaniel… If I… give you my mark, then… it won’t just mean you can’t be preyed upon by other vampires anymore… It also means that… I will be unable to drink any other blood than yours… Meaning I… have to continue drinking your blood… because it will be the only one that will satisfy me… Until the mark disappears… Meaning… until you die…’

Nathaniel’s head was spinning. ‘O-oh…’

‘See? I can’t do that. I can’t hurt you like that,’ Marc said softly, and he smiled a bit as he continued writing.

Nathaniel didn’t answer, thinking hard.

But he didn’t find an answer that day.

***

A week later, he did.

‘Marc. Drink my blood.’

The poor writer boy choked on his coffee, almost spitting half of it out. Then, he looked at Nathaniel, his eyes big and shocked. ‘W-what?’

Nathaniel didn’t know what words were anymore. He searched hard for them, opening his mouth, closing it again, and Marc waited until finally, he managed to blurt them out.

‘Then I know what it feels like. So I can decide for myself if I’d find it a bother if you… mark… me…’

Marc inhaled.

‘I-I n-never d-drank… s-someone’s… blood… directly…’

‘Well, then it’ll be a first time for you as well…?’ Nathaniel smiled a bit, embarrassed, his cheeks burning.

‘N-no. I can’t. I can’t do it,’ Marc said, getting up, grabbing his notebook and pen, but they fell on the ground as he awkwardly tried to gather them together.

Nathaniel tried reaching for it, to help him, but he clumsily scratched his hand across the table.

Cursing, he grabbed his trembling hand.

It was bleeding.

Carefully, he looked up to Marc.

His eyes were… glowing.

And as soon as their gazes met, he took multiple steps back.

Nathaniel chewed his lip.

Was he…

Was it…

His blood…?

‘…Marc…?’

‘I should leave.’

He was about to walk away, but Nathaniel realized that this would probably be the only time he’d get a chance like this.

Why though…

Why on Earth…

Did he want Marc to…

To…

So desperately…?

He didn’t know.

Or maybe he did.

But he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

It didn’t matter-

He quickly moved towards the writer boy, standing between him and the door, locking their gazes.

‘Nathaniel…’

Marc’s eyes were trembling, and so were his hands.

Nathaniel hold out his hand. It was bleeding, a little bit, but there were still small drops of blood trailing down his arm.

He took a deep breath.

‘J-just try. Alright? I trust you.’

Marc groaned, grabbing his head. ‘Don’t ask this of me… please…!’

‘But you want to, don’t you?’

‘You have no idea-’

‘Yes! Because I don’t know! If you just- Then I’ll know.’

Marc grabbed his hand, and Nathaniel breathed.

Slowly, very slowly, Marc pulled his hand closer, and he didn’t look him in the eye as he licked the trail of blood from his arm.

Nathaniel shivered.

And he saw Marc’s eyes widening.

‘…it’s… good?’ he breathed, barely a whisper.

Marc let go of his arm, and locked their gazes.

‘It… it is… Which is why… I won’t do that again…’

He left. Before Nathaniel had moved from his frozen state, unable to stop him.

***

Some months passed, and they never spoke of the incident again. Until one evening, Marc walked him home like always, and suddenly, the group of four vampires reappeared.

Nathaniel’s heart sank, and he froze in his steps. Vaguely, he registered Marc moving in front of him protectively.

The purple-eyed vampire spoke first.

‘So, what’s the deal, Anciel? This human, he’s not yours, is he?’

‘Then why can’t we have it?’ another of them asked.

‘Yeah, it’s blood smells pretty good, and he lives alone, a perfect victim.’

‘Get away,’ Marc said.

‘Not until you give me a clear answer.’ The purple-eyed vampire took some steps closer to Marc, facing him. He was a little bit taller than him, and Nathaniel’s heart was pounding loudly against his chest.

‘I haven’t marked him yet,’ Marc answered.

A loud chuckle sounded, and unconsciously, Nathaniel moved a little closer to Marc, who in turn moved even more in front of him.

‘If you haven’t marked him yet,’ the purple-eyed vampire said. ‘He is as much yours as he is ours. So you get away. We’re four, you’re one. An Anciel or not, you can’t win.’

‘Get. Away,’ Marc growled. And Nathaniel couldn’t see his face, but the sound in his voice was enough. He waited, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, trying to concentrate on something else instead of the vampires surrounding them.

For a second, the leader of the vampires backed away. Just one step. And then he snorted.

‘Then mark him. Right here.’

‘You know perfectly well that I’m not going to do that in public,’ Marc said. And Nathaniel absently wondered what the hell he meant by that. Was it that intimate…? His heart started to pound a little faster, and he wasn’t so sure anymore what exactly the cause of it was.

Marc took one step forward, in the direction of the purple-eyed vampire. Who took one back.

‘If you want to fight me, be my guest. But you know about the Anciel’s fighting techniques, do you not?’

Silence.

‘Then you know you don’t stand a chance. And you know four against one is not something you can be proud of.’

The purple-eyed vampire made a tch-sound, and then turned around.

‘You better make truth of your words, Anciel. You can’t simply claim a human smelling that good without marking him. I’ll hunt him down and find him when you’re not around.’

They walked away.

And Nathaniel breathed.

***

When they arrived at home, Marc turned around, and looked him in the eye, shy at first, but then serious. And he took a step closer.

Nathaniel held his breath.

‘Nathaniel… I… I want t-to… make you… mine…’

He released his breath. And his face was on fire.

‘Wow, that sounded…’

‘You c-can take it in two different ways. I mean it in both,’ Marc said, he was blushing.

‘W-what…?’

‘I’m… I… want to protect you… And… I promise to never hurt you… I’ll only drink your blood… when it’s absolutely necessary… In that way. But… this is also a confession…’

‘C-confession…?’

‘I’m in love with you,’ Marc blurted out, and Nathaniel’s heart soared.

His mind was spinning with what?! and but- and how- and since when- and that can’t be true- and a whole lot more that he couldn’t identify at all but-

Something within his chest felt like a fluttering ball of fluff, and it was soft and warm, and Nathaniel didn’t dislike it.

Only his cheeks were uncomfortably warm and he probably looked like a freaking tomato-

How did talking work again?

‘Nathaniel…?’

Marc looked worried, and small, and his posture was insecure and his hands were trembling.

He was nervous-

He should give him an answer-

But how did he feel?

Nathaniel only knew that his heart felt a little lighter whenever Marc was around. That he was kind and talented, and a little shy, but that was more cute than annoying. That his eyes were mesmerizing and his hands were soft. That he didn’t remember anymore what it felt like to be without him. That they were the perfect team they had ever dreamed of. And that he wouldn’t mind Marc drinking his blood… at all. He didn’t mind him being a vampire. Because he was Marc. And Marc was the only thing he needed.

‘I-I…’

‘You don’t need to answer me immediately,’ Marc said quickly. ‘I can still protect you the way I’m doing it right now. I’ll fight when it’s necessary. I’ll win.’

‘N-no it’s… I’m feeling a bit… overwhelmed… But not in a bad way…’ he carefully looked at him, and smiled. ‘I… I need some time to sort out my feelings, but… I like you a lot, Marc… I… think I might be in love with you… as well…’

Marc smiled, and his eyes softened. Better.

‘Once you have an answer… please tell me…’

***

About two weeks later, Nathaniel told him he loved him.

He had never seen Marc’s face so red before. It was cute.

They were silent for a while, just sitting together, as Marc squeezed his hand. Eventually, Nathaniel had to be the one to point it out.

‘You should mark me, then.’

He felt Marc jump slightly next to him, and the writer boy turned to look at him.

‘I guess I said that, huh…’ he scratched his head, smiling awkwardly.

‘How does it work…?’

Suddenly, Marc’s hand was moving over his neck, his fingers soft and gentle.

Nathaniel found it hard to remember how to breathe.

‘Apparently…’ Marc said, his voice low. ‘I should bite you… right here… Suck your blood and… there should be some kind of bond between us… If there is… it should happen automatically… You probably won’t be able to tell, but I will…’

Nathaniel nodded, breathing slowly.

‘B-but first…’ Marc said, he was avoiding his gaze, flashing his eyes from left to right nervously. ‘Erm… c-can I… k-kiss you…?’

‘Yes,’ the small word was gone before Nathaniel realized, and Marc leaned in, slowly. He closed his eyes, and their lips touched. A little awkwardly, then again, gentle, soft, Nathaniel’s head was spinning-

It was then that he knew he wanted to be with Marc forever. Everything fell into place.

And from that moment, their eternity started.

#nathmarc november #nathmarc #rainbow tomato #nathaniel kurtzberg #marc anciel #miraculous ladybug #vampire au #marcnath #marcthaniel #marc x nathaniel #nathaniel x marc #fanfiction #my stuff

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alightwhendarknessfell · 7 years

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My American Satan Review

So I will place any spoilers below the read more line for those that have either already seen the film or don’t plan on seeing it.

I have been waiting for this movie to come out since it was announced. Clearly, I am a bit bias by the fact that I’m a huge Black Veil Brides fan, but I really was interested in the plot. I went and saw the film last night (in cosplay), and I have to say I enjoyed every second of it. It’s got its faults, and it’s clearly and indie film but it’s one of the best indie films I’ve ever seen.

I’ve decided to make a list of the pros and cons of the movie, so here we go.

Pros

The storyline is absolutely incredible. There is so much thought put into even the smallest of details. It’s one of those films where each time you watch it you pick up another little detail. The concept of rock bands/musicians making deals with Satan is a very popular one and it’s honestly shocking this movie hasn’t been made before. It follows the story of Job where the devil and God fight it out over who Job will ultimately follow. Andy’s character ‘Johnny’ is clearly based off Job. Clearly it also follos the story of Faust (aka why the main character is Johnny Faust) who makes a deal with the devil in exchange for knowledge and success.

There are actually plot twists that I didn’t see coming (see spoilers)

Booboo Stewart is a gorgeous man.. like seriously

I like that there are clearly things that happen or aspects of the film that are based off of Andy’s actual experiences moving out to Hollywood

There are some really funny parts to the film, but also some VERY dark parts.

Ben Bruce is actually an incredible actor

My expectations for Andy’s acting weren’t too high and there were some parts where it was kind of poor but overall he channeled the character and the character’s emotions very well

The ending leaves open the possibility that the story isn’t over

Remington was a PERFECT choice for vocals, the soundtrack and songs made for the movie are amazing. Seriously if you watch it the song ‘Let Him Burn’ gets a whole new meaning

Since there are actual musicians in the film, it really does paint a very accurate picture of what the life of a rock star is really like. The film doesn’t shy away from the pretty horrific side of it.

Mr. Capricorn plays an amazing devil holy shit, he was the perfect choice

The casting was done very well, everyone’s character is very believable

Cons

There is WAY to much story packed into two hours. The film follows the band from their start then over their 2 years rise to fame. It would often times get confusing as to how much time had passed. There weren’t dates included in different scenes so it was hard to follow the progression. Especially when it came to the drugs, rehab, court dates, etc. It didn’t feel like two years had passed.

There were some major plot holes where it felt like things were left out. For instance (minor spoiler) the band knows automatically that Mr. Capricorn is the devil right after meeting him. To me, it would take a bit more than just one talk with someone to go from not believing in the devil to thinking that you’re sitting with him.

Gretchen’s character and Johnny’s mom weren’t that good

There were some parts that were not believable, won’t get into them but some things would happen and I would go “yeah right”

The news interviews were kind of cheesy

Johnny’s rehab scene was incredibly unbelievable (more in spoilers)

All in all, though the film was very well done. The acting was, for the most part, good and the movie LOOKED good. I would recommend it if you’re into the emo/rock/metal scene or like Asking Alexandria/Black Veil Brides. It’s not so much horror/thriller but darker. I would also recommend it if you like films with deeply religious themes or important lessons.The film makes you think which I like. My mom went to see it with me (she also liked it) and we’ve both spent the whole day just going over parts of the plot. I liked that the ending isn’t exactly ‘happy ever after’ as well. And what really won me over was just the amazing plot and writing. I plan on maybe even seeing it again and I’m for sure going to buy it when it comes out on DVD. I do feel like if this film was done by a major movie company it would become a cult classic.

I’m giving the film two ratings before I go into spoilers. One from the perspective on an indie film and one for overall.

Overall: 3.5/5 Indie: 4.25/5

Spoilers below

So here are my spoilers that I just wanted to give my opinion on. I’m just going to do points and talk about them.

The ‘Let Him Burn’ Scene: This is hands down one of my favorite scenes from the movie. When the band makes a human sacrifice by burning the local asshole (forgot his name) alive in a van, it was really well done. Instantly you know that Johnny has chosen the devil. He, of course, changes his mind and frees the guy who then is electrocuted but the hesitance in that decision really shows that he has evil in him. This is the evil that Mr. Capricorn exploits. The rest of the band stands by and lets Johnny take the lead. It sets up the film perfectly because while the rest of the band members sort of keeping their souls, for the most part, Johnny completely loses his. Later on in the fight scene at the country bar where Andy once again kills is another amazing scene.

Is Lilly Mr. Capricorn?: About halfway through the film, I started to suspect that Lilly may, in fact, be the devil/Mr. Capricorn. She’s deeply involved in satanic imagery (Satanic brothel hello). She’s the one who gets Johnny to start doing heroin then fucks him and answers the phone so that Johnny’s girlfriend hears the whole thing. Also, she insists that HE be the one to shoot up, which follows with the whole the devil doesn’t make you do things, he encourages you to do them yourself. She is also never around when Mr. Capricorn is. The band even says “should we tell Lilly?”. Another important point was that she was not around during the conversation with Mr. Capricorn in the bar nor at the human sacrifice. She constantly leads Johnny into danger and temptation. In the final kill scene, Mr. Capricorn tells Johnny that he is in fact who Johnny has been fucking (also fucking his mom). The question of whether he is actually Lilly is left open. Personally, I think Mr. Capricorn does take different forms, Lilly being one of them. Which means the whole time Johnny has been literally fucking the devil (which is a pretty bad ass plot twist).

Gabriel/Mr. Capricorn: The older black man that Andy keeps running into throughout the film is Gabriel. He and Mr. Capricorn seem to take turns trying to steer Johnny in their direction. This goes back to the whole story of Job. He kept warning Johnny throughout the film but Johnny doesn’t listen. In the very beginning of the movie when he asks Johnny to watch his stuff while he goes into the liquor/convenience store I feel that it was a test. Johnny doesn’t leave the man’s stuff or steal it and instead waits for him to come back. When Johnny looks in Gabriel’s bag there is no liquor in it, just food. To me, this signifies the ability to resist temptation exists. Gabriel also gives Johnny an apple before leaving (the forbidden fruit). Gabriel also makes a comment in the final performance of how they’re both on this stage but got there different ways.

The Heroin Scene: This was another favorite scene of mine. It was pretty graphic of a scene but then again doing heroin is no joke. I felt like this was a very important moment in the film because it signify’s Johnny going off the deep end. In my opinion, I do think that Lilly and Mr. Capricorn are the same people. So that means that Johnny literally shoots up heroin and has sex with the devil.

The CNN Interview: This to me the funniest part of the movie. Vic is tripping on acid during the band’s interview with CNN and I just thought it was a beautifully done scene.

Johnny’s Rehab: This was my least favorite part of the film. Heroin is one of the HARDEST drugs to kick. It was very hard to believe (with no time frame given) that all Johnny had to do was go to this monk(?) rehab facility and meditate and then boom he’s clean. In fact, even the dope sick scene where he can’t go on stage isn’t very realistic. I’ve seen people dope sick they often are violently ill and I felt like it could have been portrayed better. Johnny was just sitting on the floor and coughed a few times then they shoot him up and boom all better.

The Ending: The ending kind of confused me. So he’s in jail for murdering Mr. Capricorn on stage but it was self-defense? Then the dad of the kid they killed, in the beginning, offers to get him off? I was paying pretty close attention but I still feel like I missed something. Is he going back to the band? He gives this kind of evil smirk at the end which makes me think that in fact, the devil is still working in his favor. He’s once again going to get away with murder. Johnny says that the devil will keep coming back, and in my opinion, I think the lawyer may be the new reincarnation of him.

And finally, I have my own kind of Andley inspired comments.

Parallels to Ashley Purdy: I have no way of knowing if this was on purpose or if I’m just reading a lot into it but I noticed a lot of parallels to Andy and Ashley’s relationship with Johnny and Lilly/Mr. Capricorn. First off Lilly is the bassist in the band. Mr. Capricorn/the devil tricks the naive Johnny into signing a contract with him essentially. Of course, it’s come out that Ashley had Andy sign a contract splitting the ownership of the band back when they first met. Lilly also tempts Johnny into doing heroin (Ashley has a past with this) and then ends up having sex with him.

#american satan #andy biersack #bvb #black veil brides #ben bruce #asking alexandria #andy black #andy six #booboo stewart #movie review

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blissful-thinker · 7 years

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“I may have underestimated how much stuff I got at Anime Expo in general until I finally got a picture of the overrall haul this year: a summary.”

So after a few days of rest I finally got around to doing the usual masterpost of what is now my third year at AX. SO AFTER PROCRASTINATING FOR A WHOLE MONTH AFTER THE CON IS OVER I’M FINALLY POSTING THE MASTERPOST OF WHAT WAS MY THIRD YEAR OF AX CAUSE THIS ACCIDENTALLY GOT BURIED UNDER VARIOUS DRAFTS. WHOOPS MY BAD BUT ANYWAYS...

It was my first time going all 4 days with nothing stopping me and I think that might be why my haul is bigger than expected and why the read more is gonna be very, very long this time (which is why it took me like a fuckin week to do it.) So feel free to read on if or don’t cause this year was something else to the point where I ended up organizing the highlights by day.

The cosplays this year fricking amazing and cool to see again!! There were many, many cosplay I wanted to take pictures of (but so little storage space in my phone or I was going one way and the cosplayers was going the other way. That latter happened a lot.) Will probably post the photos I managed to take once I get those sorted out.

NOW LET’S GET TO THE PART WHERE I TRY TO REMEMBER WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED THIS WEEKEND CAUSE IT WAS A LOT TO TAKE IN:

Day 1: -Gets to the con at 7:30am with friends to pick up badges; end up in badge pickup limbo for about an hour. Ended up seeing a guy inflate his Pikachu cosplay up at the parking area and also talking to a guy who was the expanding brain meme and the salt bae meme. Only when the line moved did I realize I forgot to ask for a photo ;__; -Got our badges around 8:45am-ish and ended up in LineCon2k17 to get into the convention itself. I think it might have been due to them upping the security measures so honestly I’m not complaining too much (It did go faster for the remainder of the con.) Okay maybe I was kinda anxious that day to get in cause I needed to get to a certain booth quickly that day. Anyways it took like 1 1/2 hours to get in cause by the time they opened a few more doors, it was already 10:15am and then me and my friends were kinda walking fast and quickly going over meet up plans before we split to do our own business. -RAN MY ASS TO THE GOODSMILE BOOTH TO GET ONE OF THE LAST QUEUE TICKETS OF THE DAY FOR 3:30 (Aftermath: Came back around 3:30 and managed to get one Free Skate Yuuri Katsuki Nendoroid which I am thankful did not sell out until the next day. Might’ve been because the autograph signing and the panel for Sayo-kun and Kubo [YOI creators] were that day. I’m kinda thankful I’m not too interested in autographs or panels to go. Dude at the GS booth was surprised Yuuri didn’t sell out yet and I explained it might’ve been cause of that. He did get sold out the next day so yeah. But also I hope everyone had a good time at that panel!!!) -Explored Exhibit Hall while waiting for a friend who was at the Atlus booth. I swear there were more vendors this year. -SO MUCH GREAT ART IN ARTIST ALLEY, SO LITTLE TIME TO APPRECIATE IT ALL CAUSE EVERYONE IS SO GOOD THERE (repeats this for 3 more days cause it’s true) -some guy cosplayed as Symmetra's photon projector beam.... I realized hours after leaving it’s the same guy who cosplays as Deadpool every year ACTUALLY RAN INTO AN OLD HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE WHO WAS TABLING IN AA. IT WAS REALLY NICE TO SEE THEM AGAIN HONESTLY. -somewhere along the late afternoon me and my friend managed to find the Crunchyroll foyer. may have taken a picture with the yoi kiss and cry set up there. itwasboundtohappen -they changed up the layout of the entertainment hall so much. i actually prefer it it’s so nice :D -ran my ass to the blizzard booth when I got inside the entertainment hall. that was also bound to happen eventually -played arms with friend at the ninendo switch area. got thrust into a sudden game of mario kart 8 with someone else cause the person in front thought the controller stopped working. i’ve never been more panicked in my life than in mk8 -chilled out behind the blizzard booth at the overwatch rest area for the rest of the day. got to watch the trivia go down for an hour until going back home regretsididntdotrviaatallisworeiwasgonnadoitbutichickenednout -saw lucio’s VA while resting at the booth ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

DAY 2 -got there early and linecon was over (mostly) so waited around for the opening and took cosplay pictures. (note: if you saw some weirdo eating a to-go bowl with their fingers, that was me. i didn’t have breakfast that morning) -hung around exhibit hall properly this time while looking for certain booths since the “definitely need to get now” priority rush was over -me at the two people at arunning a certain booth as my other friend decides what to get from there “I’m just watching this unfold my dudes, I’m just the bystander here.” (not gonna specify anymore than this. the people at the booth were pretty chill though) -that psycho pass prop gun demostration was 10/10 holy shit -AA part 2: the “less hectic but still hectic version and still deciding what to get” feelings -my friend tempting me to get a pillowcase of the legendary birds with him...I was pretty close to actually get it (he got it regardless and honestly it is the softest of pillowcases) -”Alright I think I got everything i needed from ___ fandom- sHIT WAIT I KINDA WANT THAT” -me, who has never played persona 5 in her life but knows enough about it, getting more prints and charms than my other friend, who has played over 150+ hours on that game alone and got like 2 prints from it -hanging around the entertainment hall again before leaving early that day. probably best I left early cause I was deadass tired. for the first time in years I slept before midnight cause AX

Day 3: -okay honestly the only thing I remember this day was that my friend and I were at the Blizzard booth resting and waiting for triva to start and Symmetra’s VA was hanging around the booth. So when trivia was gonna start, the top prize for winning the trivia current triva round was a Symmetra funko pop signed by Anjali. As soon as that was said, Anjali suddenly appeared out of nowhere grabbed the funko pop from one of the guys leading the triva rounds, tried to make her escape by carefully manuvering around the beanbags and then trying to roll away.... only for her to kinda trip during her roll from my friend’s foot and then landed right next to me and my friend before recovering and then running away from the booth (and then returned after a few minutes). Honestly it’s been 3 weeks a month at this point and I’m still shook as fuck -also she asked some of the trivia questions as Symmetra. that was also really cool

Day 4: -since it was the final day, it was just making sure of last minute gets at AA -”I got a charm at AA of Yurio yesterday and somehow he detached from my badge today but I’m not even fucking upset I lost him or surprised cause he was dangling along with charms of Yuuri and Viktor and he honestly fucking would straight up ditch them at some point in a day in the life of Yuri[o] Plitsetsky”: a thrilling one shot of the morning. I managed to get another one before I forgot to and Yurio2 was grounded to my bag until I was home -an interesting shirt hunt up in exhibit hall for my friend requested from his friend. it was... quite the shirt to get and probably the strangest thing to get for him and it wasn’t even for him Honestly the only way I can I summarize this year was that is was heck a lot of fun and hopefully will go next year. Maybe if I’m not that lazy and able to I’ll cosplay next year too. Will I actually put up the masterpost of the merch I got- honestly probably not cause I have no idea where I put my merch pictures.

#anime expo 2017 #ax 17 #bliss rambles #my photos #PROCRASTINATION AND FORGETFULLNESS AT ITS PEAK EVERYONE

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silencedrowns · 7 years

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A Cosplayer’s Guide to Colored Contacts and Eye Safety (AKA How NOT To Fuck Up Your Eyes Forever)

I AM NOT EXAGGERATING ABOUT FUCKING UP YOUR EYES FOREVER. I have seen people LOSE AN EYE or get permanent eye damage from unsafe behavior; I’ve also seen people carted off to the hospital over it. Colored contacts and heavy eye makeup can be entirely safe, but you have to know how to use and wear them properly!

This post will be very long, but I encourage everyone who has an interest in colored lenses (especially circle lenses!) or cosplay makeup to read it. I don’t want you to lose an eye.

DO NOT USE CHUNKY GLITTER NEAR YOUR EYE. I’m putting this before the contact lens tips because this is the single most dangerous thing that I see people, even without contact lenses, doing on a regular basis. Glitter can scratch your eye or even puncture the cornea. If you don’t believe me, google “imgur glitter eye” for the multi-album story of a woman who LOST HER EYE from an accident with craft glitter while playing with her daughter.

IF YOU CAN’T USE CONTACTS, DON’T USE CONTACTS. I wouldn’t think this would need to be said but I’ve seen people try to use contacts anyway because anime or something. You don’t need contacts for cosplay! People almost never used them back in the day. And if you really want your eyes to match, use Photoshop after the fact.

HYGIENE IS EVERYTHING. I’m going to keep coming back to this, but keep in mind: you CAN get infections in your eye, and if you aren’t careful, you will. Wash your hands before putting in contacts. Wash your hands before doing eye makeup. Wash your goddamn hands period. With VERY RARE exceptions (and 99% of them are if you are using blind-look mesh contacts), you always want to put the lenses in BEFORE you start in with your moisturizer/primer/makeup. Putting the lenses on afterwards means you’re extremely likely to get germs and makeup film on your lenses. Learn how to sanitize your makeup brushes and your pencil sharpener. DO NOT EVER share eye makeup with friends. Sanitize your personal eye makeup brushes (that only you use) weekly and sharpen your eye pencils with a clean sharpener before each use. If this seems like overkill just remember, if you contract pink eye, you will have to throw out all of your contacts and all of your eye makeup that you’ve used within a week before contracting it... that could be a LOT of money to throw away!

Contact solution is contact solution. Do not substitute anything else. You need to rinse your contact? Great! Use contact solution! I’ve seen people use things like tap water or saliva and that’s just asking for severe eye pain. The only acceptable substitute is contact lens safe eye drops, and even that is an emergency-only substitute that you should avoid using.

NEVER wear a lens straight from the vial. seriously, don’t fucking do this. The storage solution in contact lens vials is meant to hold the lenses shelf stable and safe for far longer than the time you can wear it safely, but it’s also really nasty to your eye. It can cause irritation and worse. Always take the lens from the vial, rinse it separately, and then let it soak in normal lens solution for at least eight hours/overnight before you wear it! (Lenses in daily blister packs are fine to put straight in your eye, though.)

When in doubt, throw it out. Yeah, I know contact lenses cost money. But seriously, your eye is worth more than any lens. Here’s a brief list of several times to throw the lens out:

when it’s expired (make sure you remember the expiration date by writing it on the bottom of your lens case with a sharpie and/or saving the purchase emails)

when the lens has dried out (I know it’s really tempting to pour more contact lens solution into the case and try to revive that potato chip lens, but trust me, that’s dangerous! see next two bullet point)

when the lens is visibly damaged (torn lenses are not fun to put in your eye)

when the lens is NOT visibly damaged, you’ve prepared it properly, but it hurts to put in your eye (not all tears are visible without some form of magnification but they’re just as capable of causing pain and/or corneal damage! Alternatively, you could have a defective lens.)

Be careful with your lens cases. Did you know lens cases can expire too? It’s true! Bacteria can accumulate in and around the lens case and that’s going to counteract all your effort to keep the lenses sterile and safe. Replace your lens case whenever it starts to look gunky. And be wary of the cute animal cases you get from most lens stores! You can use them (I do myself) but they’re more prone to leaks and/or evaporation than most other types, so you’ll need to make extra-sure you’re on top of changing the solution.

CHANGE YOUR SOLUTION. Once every two weeks for lenses you haven’t worn lately (take the lens out, rinse it, take out all the old lens solution, replace solution, put lens back in), and every single time you wear the lens. Storing your freshly worn lens in old solution is a great way to get bacteria on your lens. We don’t want that. Storing lenses for too long in the same solution can lead to the solution’s water evaporating and the salt staying, and anybody who’s ever put in an overly salty contact lens knows exactly the eye pain that will cause. Avoid this by changing your solution frequently!

Only buy colored contacts from reputable stores. And reputable ≠ well known! Pinky Paradise is very well known. They also shipped me multiple defective contacts so I stopped using them. Search for reviews of the store, both negative and positive. GEO lenses have a scratch-off anti-fake system that can be quite reassuring if you’re interested in trying a store without a ton of reviews.

Don’t wear colored contacts for too long. Yeah, I know. Anime cons. You’re really not supposed to wear colored lenses for more than ~6 hours at a time, but you can’t always stick to that at a convention. Still, make sure that you take out your lens when your eyes get tired! You can fix photos with the “wrong” eye color with image editing. Also see...

NEVER SLEEP IN YOUR CONTACTS WTF WHY PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS!!! This is one of the worst things you can do to your eyes. I accidentally fell asleep in contacts once, in middle school, and that was enough to convince me to never do it again; it is the most uncomfortable thing. But if knowing you’ll be waking up with your eyes in pain isn’t enough to convince you, please consider that extreme cases from people sleeping in contacts have lead to losing a cornea, parasites infesting the eye, or even loss of eye from eye damage! You don’t want this. Don’t sleep in colored contacts. Take them out before you party or when you start to feel tired.

Be wary of redness-reducing eyedrops. I know that they’re really nice; I have my own favorite drops and don’t go to conventions without them even! But there are three potential problems here: 1) not all redness relief eyedrops are safe for contacts and you risk destroying your contacts this way, 2) you risk masking eye damage with the numbing effect, and 3) overuse of redness relief drops can lead to a condition where blood vessels grow across your cornea. All of these are very bad.

JUST DON’T WEAR THE COLORED CONTACTS IF ANYTHING FEELS BAD!!! Your eye hurts when it goes in? Take it out! You feel like there’s dust in your eye? Take it out! Your eyes start hurting for any reason whatsoever? TAKE OUT THE GODDAMN CONTACTS!!!

AND NOW FOR SOME EXTREME DANGER.

DON’T FOLLOW ANY “DIY COLORED CONTACTS” TUTORIALS. You’d think people would realize not to do this, but I have seen tutorials for “DIY contacts” consisting of everything from soaking in food dye (NO!) to coloring them with a sharpie (WTF NO) to MAKING YOUR OWN HARD FULL-EYE CONTACTS WITH A SODA BOTTLE AND PAX PAINT (I AM SHRIEKING AT THE THOUGHT)!!! Don’t do any of this. It’s like you WANT to ruin your eyes. It’s the worst.

IT IS ALSO VERY DANGEROUS TO WEAR YOUR REGULAR CLEAR PRESCRIPTION CONTACTS AND THEN LAYER NONPRESCRIPTION COLOR ONES ON TOP. People used to try this A LOT around 10 years ago when it was harder to get color contacts in prescription. It was fucking dangerous then, and it’s fucking dangerous now. Don’t do it. Don’t even think it.

A VERY PARTIAL LIST OF HORRIBLE THINGS I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE DO FIRSTHAND AND YOU SHOULD NEVER DO ANY OF THESE:

share contact lenses (WTF WHY NO)

drop a contact lens on the public bathroom floor, pick it up, lick it, and stick it in their eye

buy a lens from a shady vendor on the con floor, struggle to put it in directly from the vial in the public bathroom, and start asking around if anybody has experience with putting contacts cause this is their absolute first time trying it

put in a contact lens that hurts, leave it in because they didn’t know any better, and wind up irritating their eye so much that they get sent to the ER

“this lens expired two years ago but I should be fine!”

use the bathroom, don’t wash their hands, put on makeup, still don’t wash their hands, put lens in

do I need to continue or are you all cringing enough yet

Contact lenses and extreme makeup can be perfectly safe to wear... the trick is knowing how to wear them safely. Be smart. Be safe. Treat your eyes with care.

#contacts #contact lenses #circle lenses #cosplay advice #contact lens safety #cosplay #lolita fashion #eye health

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midnatt-heronweather · 4 years

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2019

My Year review, for my own reasons, starts from March 7th.

though what I will say about pre then is, it is an honour to be known by the creator (Cassandra Clare) as the first person to ever admit to being a fan of the Starkweather family after asking about them when she and Holly Black came to Manchester in February. And that I owe that little meet for making me properly look at Holly “Folk of air.” series.___________________________________________________________________________________________

Gigs:

I pick 7th of March to start this review because it is the day myself, Heather and Ally went to see Freya Ridings who had the week before had her song “Lost Without you.” played in an important scene on the final half of the final season of Shadowhunters. I didn’t get to meet her this time, so her song card is still in my folder to be signed one day, and I have hope it will.

As seems to be my song recently, I didn’t get to many gigs this year, though a lot of my fave people toured (some even reformed, but that was over in the US)Due to funds we didn’t even to any Whitby this year (any as there are 4 now may I remind the reader)

Don’t ask me why but I went to see John Barrowmans Christmas show in Harrogate. I love the man but.. I’ll stick to the normal stuff.. if you can call anything Barrowpants does as normal.

What I did get to, was see Counterfeit the week before my birthday with Ally, Jaime and co were on top form and so what I needed after a perfectly ghastly couple of weeks leading up.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Conventions:

*Liverpool Comic Con The same weekend at the Frey Ridings gig, gave me more time with my pack on a bad week. But I’m not talking about that here.Anyway, my reason for Liverpool Comic Con this year was the chance to meet Peter Facinelli (Carlisle Cullen, Twilight / Max Lord, Supergirl)I am a after all a Twilight and a Supergirl fan and also S.W.A.T fan (but he left in s1)Peter told me he hadn’t been written out of SG to make way for the LGBT storyline, he’d asked to be left out as the show had to move filming locations and he didn’t want to be so far from his family all the year. I didn’t gloat to the Sanverse lot but it was tempting.

I also got to speak with Paul (Paul Schrier and Jason Narvy) who played Bulk from Bulk and Skull in Power Rangers, thought Jason waved. They are both sweethearts and while, as mad as their on-screen counterparts, not as annoying, I walked past Paul a few times before finally deciding to ranger up and tell him he was the first person I saw on screen and considered a role model for the “bigger” person. He told me an awesome story about another girl who because she was big had been stuck playing him until he’d fronted up to kids making her and she got to play one of the rangers.I saw the duo again at “Wales” in December and Paul remembered me when I said hi.

*Survival 4 - 2019-04-05 to 2019-04-07 -Ren, London: the first Starfury of the year, the convention I’d given an entire show a 3rd look for after finding out Sean was actually inviting the Seelie Queen herself Lola Flanery (Maddie Griffin, The 100), I’m still not sure if she was amazed, saddened or sickened by the fact me and Heather had come to the convention just for her, but it got a few laughs from Sachin Sahel (Eric Jackson, The 100) who seemed to be her escort for the weekend.I dropped to my knees in the proper greeting of the queen that Jade Hassoune (Meliorn) had taught me the year before at the first Pancon, gave her the fanmade cookbook (don’t ask) and.. I like to think we impress her with our Seelie court cosplay despite being rushed by Sean's announcing.

* Last Wales Comic Con in Telford I looked a tit. I left my shoulder piece at ally so ended up looking like some Roman surf.Meeting David Wenham didn’t go to plan in the slightest, he is my fave actor from Lord Of The Rings and yet somehow, telling him that seemed to bore him.

Russell Tovey (George, Being Human/ Ray Terrill, The Flash) was polite, but colder than I’d have expected, especially when he was so animated and nice to everyone else.

While I have Amanda Tapping auto twice from a friend, finally standing beside her (Capt Carter, Stargate / Dr Magnus, Sanctuary) was an honour, especially When she seemed to like Martouf the Symbiote, as I said my Tok’ra costume had gone to hell but her smile made it bearable.

Alexander Ludwig ( Bjorn, Vikings) was wearing a shirt from Descended from Odin, he laughed when I recognised the logo he is so far the nicest OG Vikings cast member I’ve met.

* Starfury Ultimates 4 - 2019-05-17- 2019-05-19/20 - Hilton, Birmingham:

I got to meet the love interest of my favourite Coluan, Nicole Maines (Nia Nall/Dreamer, Superigrl) and the last reason I have to watch Legends in the form of the amazing Amy Louise Pemberton (Gideon), me and Louiza did our first duo cosplay as Jareth and Sarah from The Labyrinth, though I forgot the Goblin King wears Make up, I seemed to do okay as far as the SF peeps thought.

*LFCC:

well, I’ve said all I am going to say about the lies and lack of organisation and care from the stewards. so. The con....I died, visibly, slowly, but with a lot of translating from my long suffering Parbatai Heather I managed to meet, greet and speak with BOTH Greyjoys,First I had to face them for a photo shoot, in a uniform that was smaller than it was supposed to be, I felt daft not only because it was a Starfleet uniform but because I’d dreamed of cosplaying a greyjoy and my size made it if nothing else monetarily impossible, so I threaded my OBO necklace under my collar, totally against Starfleet regs, and stepped, up, Gemma said hello and Alfie went to before seeing the octopus, I wanted the ground to open up till he beamed“its like a Star trek Greyjoy crossover!” you can guess how happy I was he liked it.At the Autograph table Gemma (Yara) revealed she’s actually a Wessie like me. When I told her she was the best actress in all of Gentleman Jack for even attempting the accent and giving her character believability she said “yes..well.. I grew up in Headingley.” to which If I hadn’t already been falling a part I would have gone to pieces, as was I think I croaked my way through “what.. seriously. Someone cool.. from my area?” or something along those lines.Facing her on-screen brother was possibly the most Fan-squee moment I can ever remember having, and that include quiet a few awesome meets in my conlife. We cued, and I suddenly found my breath was short, his PA miming asked me if I’d had a drink I nodded, he then mimed I was breathless because of Alfie and not him and that he’d fight Alfie which got me laughing, I faced Alfie, took as much concentration I could muster, telling him I’d been there since ep 1, loved the Greyjoys through everything, it was amazing, he is so sweet and so shy, more so than when we’d met him a few years ago backstage for that brief moment, thinking on it it did explain a lot, also why he had his dog Ata with him and had randomly walked past us before taking him for a walk, but standing there in front of him its..indescribable.

Also at LFCC were Zachary Quinto ( Kelvin Timeline Spock) who seemed very taken by Alfie's dog Ata, he wouldn’t do LLAP in photoshoots, at first I thought that was because of the way I approached him, I was unable to keep my breath and looked like I’d been crying, but apparently he just doesn’t do it. Lends itself to the old rumour that for the movies he had to glue his fingers to get it right doesn’t it? He was sweet, I can’t really say much else because I didn’t get the time thanks to ‘things’ to spend time talking with him.

The reason for my costume choice was Shazad Latif (by then Commander Ash Tyler, Star Trek Discovery) I’d met him the previous year but had not had the money to get a photograph with him, so that's what I did, he’s a nice lad, and doesn’t mind goofs as I remembered from last year. I saw him again at DST and told him about a scene in a recent show he did where he didn’t realise someone had accidentally mimicked his accent.

*Starfury Highlanders 4 - 2019-08-09 to 2019-08-11 - Hilton, Birmingham:

Met David Berry and finally met the Queen of Hearts Maria Doyle Kennedy.Made a fool of myself. Got told I ask to many questions and saw Sean so drunk he left hie wallet/card on top and cigars on the bar in public.Also this was the convention that determined a new personal rule. I am not doing 3 day cons for any less than 3 interesting guests. Shadowhunters cast being the exception to the rule only if its someone I’ve not met before.I try to keep to the same rule with Day cons but sometimes there's just someone who makes that impossible (Tom Burke back at a Newcastle comic con a few years ago being my go to example)

* Pandemonium con2:

3rd Shadowhunters con I’d attended.I know I shocked Matt (Alec), Luke (johnathan) and Kat (Clary) as the Owl.I’m told Dom (Jace) was shocked to and said the mask was better than the one he’d worn which we all know is just him being kind to broke overweight untalented fan.Luke is a gent, think I wierded him out asking for him to go full Johnathan in the photo, but he seemed to forgive me when I told him me and my friends Carla and Michelle had dreamcast him as Spike in the Buffy revival (and Jade as Willow obv)Chai (Jordan) is always madness, all the time. And didn’t mind getting scolded for spoilering one of his own charectars deaths to a fan (me) who’d only agreed to watch the show because of him and Lola (Seelie Queen) being in it. He took it with good humour and began discussing spoilering and its limits. He was wierded out by me A.L.I.E photoshoot idea, when most people want hugs and high fives and stuff.

my season 2 Seelie didn’t get the reaction from Jade (Meliorn) my s1 did in Milan the previous year, but I think by then he knew I was mad enough to try it, and it wasnt a direct attempt at him (not for lack of trying)He loved the Buffy notebook set and Hufflepuff hat I got him, was even wearing it at closing, though I didn’t get pics as my camera died. Wasnt surprised apparently, that I’m Hufflepuff too. Which most would have taken as a barb but just kept me grinning.I gave him Tomato crisps but he has yet to tell me the answer to the question he asked had asked me when I first found them over here “are they the real thing?”I also brought a little dragon to meet its name sake, I did considering giving him it but I think I overloaded him, he was a flattered by the likeness though, also by the smell? Guessed it was a boy angel knows how because I don’t.

I met Nicola Damude (Maryse) in Milan, but because of stuff and thangs I didn’t get to talk to her for long, so when she got announced it was heaven for me,I gave her a jar of Pontefract cakes from the Castle (still not sure why) and she asked if she could give them to her dad who loves black Liquorice, I was pleased as anything, and she asked me where Pontefract was and I for some reason said“famous for Liquorice, racing and hot pokers.” to which Ally explained and got nick laughing.Ally cosplayed Maryse which had Nic smiling like a chesire cat and her picture where Allys brought out Biromantic heart flag will go into her wall of pride flags which she puts in her window during pride week at home in Canada even when shes away working.

*Destination Star Trek 2019:

I met up with Villiana and Sarah at DST, still surprised Sarah was a Trekkie, but it made the con more interesting, intop obviously of my 5 reasons for attending despite cash flow Shazad Latif (Commander Ash Tyler), Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp (Dr Hugh Culber and Lieutenant Paul Stamets), Alan Van Sprang (Commander Leland/Control) and Ethan Peck (Liuetenant Spock)

When I met Wilson Cruz I gave him the picture I’d got last year to sign and told him it was for my friend who was a nurse and couldn’t attend, he said “theirs always next year” adding quickly “if we’re asked.” to which I grinned, I explained how she was a Cardiac nurse and couldn’t rearrange shifts when they (he and Anthony) got announced, how she’d binged both seasons and they were her faves. He was proud to be playing a doctor liked by a nurse.

First photo was with Ethan, I was nervous as hells. Despite the fact it seemed only I remembered the significance of Alice in Wonderland to Spock I went through with my idea, he leant over my shoulder looking interested, I was so happy even after I realised the book was facing to far right for the cover to be readable. Ethan asked about the pic when I went to his table to get his autograph and I said it was awesome,turns out I was so annoyed at myself for the way I held the book, I’d not noticed he was giving the book the Spock eyebrow till I scanned it.I asked him if he’d do me a favour when he went back on the set of Penny Dreadful and told him about Live Dom and Prosper to which he laughed and said he’d only seen Dominic the day before.

While I was cuing for Ethans auto there was a girl behind me talking about asking Shazad who was sat next to him to sign her s31 badge she’d just bought, I’ve had mine since they came out and com badges before that so I turned round and told her it would be impossible to keep in tact, she said it wouldn’t matter just because she’d been up to him to get it signed, and I looked where she’d positioned it and tried to keep myself from saying anything else, someone gave her a pen they thought would last better, a group gathered trying to talk her ionto it, and while they were talking Shazads cue wass empty so I wandered over, got my friend Michelle is auto and talked about Departure where he didn’t know for a few moments in one scene a Canadian playing a Brit hadn’t been able to help mimicking his London accent, he found it funny and couldn’t believe I noticed, I shrugged and said “two of my fave actors in one scene, I notice these things.” I told him where to look and he wrote it down. I then asked if there was any plans to try and get Ash into the section 31 show even as a hologram and he said there was a discussion going on which got me grinning, I turned round and the girls thought I’d told but I shook my head, I wanted none of it. But when I got back in Ethans line she stepped out of and went to ask him, he didn’t look very bothered about where she had it, he just liked the idea.

From day 1 There was no question I was walking out as Section 31 again, but this time, instead of being the only black badge I was one of a sea, I was however the only one to give Alan Van Sprang a 3d print copy of the ship, his ship, the NCIA-93 which he loved, said I’d out done myself (after the rune com I gave him last year) and took another Selfie I’ll never see lol

my friend Ashley took photos of the whole encounter, from Alan thinking I’d given him a box of bubble wrap to the shock on his face, he said getting the ship was 2nd in awesome only to stepping onto the set of the ship itself.We got talking, I asked him about something Nicola had said at pancon, that when he’d had his first and only scene with her he’d called her Marsee instead of Maryse and he said its true and that she’d told him she’d told the story at a con the previous month, I said it was only last week, to which Ash from over my shoulder said that I am and I quote “the number one fan in the UK and universally known in the con community as the biggest fan and a lot of people only knew of Shadowhunters because of me,” apparently that's a consensus as I found out later, and as much as I don’t think its strictly true I was honoured never the less,he wasn’t took keen on my writing, apparently Lisa looked like Lisa am or something? don’t ask.So we were chatting and suddenly I noticed this head bobbing up and down behind him, Wilson Cruz had left his place and was using a chair to do raised push ups because he was bored.I realised that I’d stood chatting to Alan longer than was strictly polite for other fans so I bowed out, Saw him again for photos, where he and Shazad made me very happy

I do feel a bit of dope, I brought my asexual flag for my photo with Wilson and Anthony, but when Anthony asked me what the colours meant my brain went blank, I have to agree to tweet him a link. At least with him and Wilson I know they check twitter lol.

When I went up to get Anthony's auto on the Culmets photo for Ally I told him the same as I’d told Wilson how about Ally binging the show and loving them, how I’d pretty much known who’d she’d go for as faves, how she's a combo of the two and how..well what I said was “Paul rocks.” to which he grinned and said “of course he does.” LOL

* Miracle Day Returns (5) 2019-11-15 to 2019-11-17 - -Ren, London: Seeing the old crowd was perfect for the last Starfury of the year (Destiny never counts)hearing from Gareth on the future potential for music, getting ribbed by Kai, and of course watching the two of them taking the piss out of John is always a riot.Seeing Kai and Eve handing Sean a peition for a 5th Miracle Day was awesome, and we know it will happen.. somewhere down the line

*Wales Comic Con Telford Takeover December: I am not standing on Aidan’s foot in the picture!That I have to be clear on, I am getting fking sick of people joking that I am. He is still laughing from a previous person in the booth and her kid., I would have gone back and asked about reshoots but door were closed and I figured Aidan had left as he was on a schedule.

Colton loved his Pokeball even if I did get them mixed up and have to get him and Adam to swap.Told me Roy end up with his arm back “sort of.” and there's no plans for him to be in the spin off but “its the future, you never know.”

Dean O’Gorman (Bragi, Almighty Johnson's) loved the fact I’d brought the cover of young Herc to be signed, and told me that it was the Pilot which explained why Ian didn’t continue as young Herc (scheduling)

Tyler confirmed he is the Superman in the spin off. I knew it was but just hearing him say it :DTyler and Colton both recognised us, it was awesome!

While I am Ify on the new location due to travel funds and things, generally the convention was awesome as always. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Stuff

TVWith the end of Shadowhunters I have seriously been lacking new shows.I’ve tried different things and nothings stuck.Star Trek Discovery aired at the same time as Shadowhunters and was over nearly at the same time.The In-Between was interesting but isn’t getting a season 2,The Expanse s4 only started last week,Shadowhunters, TVD, Teen Wolf, Grimm, Torchwood, Xena, Bad Girls The Tribe, True Blood, Andromeda, American Horror Story, Merlin, B5, Stargate, its a short list but a special oneso I’ve started rewatches : my go to’s (see above list^) till something sneaks up.

MusicPretty much the same deal.J4de released some awesome songs, but that’s 4 songs, the EP is out ‘later’.but no new band has really grabbed me.

Upside? In November we learned that My Chem have reformed, just gotta wait and see if they record or tour outside the US. _______________________________________________________

Important

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” - C.S. Lewis

As always I have to have to mark those people who have made this year bareable,the good thing is this year there is no need for a piece on those who've also made it unbearable.

you know who you are, and if you don't.. assume i'm talking of you, because likely hood is I am.

"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens." - J. R. R. Tolkien

And that is.. or was it. Goodbye 2019

#2019

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wolfleblack · 7 years

Text

On stage voice actor Troy Baker talks about how we all have our nerd, from those of us who love comics or Star Wars or movies to the people who are obsessed with engines or skiing or racing or anything else. Everyone, he says, is a nerd in their own way because being a nerd simply means being really obsessed with something, spending more and more time learning about it and enjoying it. And that’s the thing, isn’t it? Every person has that one thing they really love. Every person is a nerd. The only difference, muses Troy Baker, is that those of us at comic-con know we’re nerds and have embraced it.

The MCM show in Glasgow is the perfect example of this theory. It’s filled with people who passionately love comics, anime, movies, games and a bunch of other things, and all of them know they are nerds. They accept it. They are ahead of the curve. And so many of them are like me, not just in the sense that they share my passions but also in how they grew up in a time where reading comics or loving videogames or anything that wasn’t “normal” was viewed as something bad, a time when the label of nerd carried a lot of horrible stigmas with it. We were the outsiders, the forgotten, the picked on, just because of things we liked. But look how things have changed. Because of stuff like the Marvel Cinematic Universe people who had never read a comic are talking about Captain America or the Guardians of the Galaxy or Daredevil. There are still things that are generally seen with disdain, like anime, but by and large being a geek is…weirdly cool? When you live in a world where people are happily going to the cinema to watch the Suicide Squad being a geek almost means less than it once did, and yet at the same time it means so much more now.

Being in a crowd at comic-con is a unique experience. The sheer amount of people coupled with the wide variety of costumes on display makes it both claustrophobic and exciting. I don’t think you can adequately do the experience justice when attempting to tell people why it’s worth attending a convention, especially if you happen to mention the often insanely long queues or the fact that wanting to look at some merchandise can become an epic quest where you have to battle a torrent of people jostling around. And don’t dare mention the absurdly inflated prices of food. Bloody hell. But that’s like saying you shouldn’t attend a concert because the hot dogs are pricey, it’s as hot as the sun and you keep getting bumped by strangers.

So why the hell should anyone go? Simple; the people. Sure, the guests are cool and there’s some sweet loot to be picked up and maybe some awesome comics to discover, but you can get all that loot and comics on the Internet and watch guest panels on Youtube where you at least have the option of lounging around in your boxers while munching a bag of Jelly Babies, something which I discovered MCM frowns upon in their live panels. No, you should come because of the people. An entire building full of fine folk who share your passions and nerdery, who are willing to spend time and money creating elaborate costumes for themselves and others to enjoy. Stop just about anyone and you can easily strike up a conversation. For someone like me who has social anxiety and kind of sucks at being a human being, in general, getting trapped in massive crowds sounds like a stupid idea, but in truth it’s one of the best places to push past anxiety because these wonderful, wonderful people are the least judgemental folk around. How could they be, when they’re dressed up as the Joker or as a Digimon character? It’s kind of hard to poke fun at someone for being anxious when you’re dressed up as Sailor Moon, after all. No, despite the crowds comic-con is a prime place to say, “today I’m going to push myself by trying to meet new people” and at the end of the day if it goes poorly you’ll probably never seen any of them ever again.

Of course, if you are after that sweet, sweet loot and view people as little more than walking nuisances then there’s plenty of things to get your hands on. This can vary from convention to convention, but there is usually something awesome to be found if you have a rake around, from commissioned artwork from a talented pool of artists to some sweet indie comics or custom-made props. This year at Glasgow I had to admit that I was a touch disappointed as comics and comic-related merchandise felt like it had taken a back seat to anime, but that’s a personal thing and comic-cons haven’t actually been about comics in quite a long time. They’re now a celebration of comics, games, movies, TV shows and yes, anime.

Events like this tend to attract guests who come to speak to audiences, as well as sign merchandise and get photos taken with fans provided they can pay. Troy Baker was the highlight guest for me, his voice, along with Nolan North, arguably being the dominant force in videogame voice acting, He took to the stage to deliver a near hour-long panel where he managed to answer just over six questions due to the fact that every answer would detour into an entertaining and thoughtful tangent. He was funny, sincere, informative and held the audience in the palm of his hand. Sadly my own interview with him was cancelled as all his interviews were shifted to the Sunday at the very last minute, but I’m attempting to talk to him via Email instead so with any luck a Q&A with the man himself will happen. Regardless, despite his own admittance that he found doing panels scary it was also clear that he was a natural at it.

But other guests lit up the event, too, such as Manu Bennet who played Crixus in Spartacus and is currently rocking it as Deathstroke over on the Arrow TV show. There was also and Bryce Papenbrook and Trina Nishimura from Attack on Titan whose panel had the crowd nearly constantly laughing as they regaled them with behind the scenes tales and answered questions.

Still, with absolutely no disrespect intended to any of the guests who came to Glasgow’s event it is fair to say that the London show continues to attract higher-profile stars. Hopefully, as the Glasgow comic-con continues to get larger MCM might be able to persuade some of those people to come up to bonny Scotland to entertain the legions of fans who reside here.

Both the Saturday and Sunday were rounded off with the official cosplay masquerade where those in costume could come up on stage to display their efforts, while judges carefully eyed them up to pick a winner. As much fun as it is discovering amazing cosplays while walking around it’s arguably even better to see them up on stage where coloured lighting makes them look even better. Entrants can also choose backing music, and will either have a variety of poses or even a whole act. One person came out as Captain Phasma, for example, before busting out some fancy dance moves. It’s the perfect way to end the convention.

It’s amazing to think that despite how many people attend the Glasgow ‘Con is still quite young, and the organizers are still fine-tuning everything. This year guest panels and the masquerade were held in a different part of the SECC building, freeing up space in the two main halls which, along with some general restructuring of the layout, gave people a lot more room to move around compared to two years ago when there were severe cases of traffic jams. The extra space wasn’t enough to cope with the onslaught of visitors, though, as legions of fans poured in to celebrate their geekdom. The paths may have been wider, but at the ‘Cons Saturday peak it was still hard to push through the throngs. If you’re taking little children it’s fair to say that while people will do their best to avoid bumping into them there’s inevitably going to be accidents.

So, if you have an interest in comics, anime, cosplaying or a bunch of other geeky things then is it worth going to a comic-con? Yup. The crowds may mean it’s not really your cup of tea, it certainly can be exhausting, but it’s worth going at least once just for the experience of being amidst thousands of passionate people who share your love of everything nerdy and awesome.

Before we wrap this up with a bunch of pictures, though, here’s some general advice for adding comic-con or any other similar convention.

– Start planning early. When it comes to travel costs and hotel rooms booking early often means getting them cheaper, and that means you’ll have more cash to spend on stuff at the convention! In short, if you want to attend a convention the earlier you decide to do it the better.

– Check the schedule. Convention’s will typically publish a schedule well in advance of the event that will tell you when certain guests will be speaking. Read it, pick what you don’t want to miss and then consider setting some alarms on your phone so that you don’t get carried away and completely miss seeing your favourite guest panel.

– Pack light. Pack smart. This one is obvious, but try to pack light. It’s tempting to take everything, especially if you’re like me and own a pile of camera gear, but you’re going to be walking all day and the crowds don’t mix well with chunky rucksacks. Take what you need.

– Take snacks and drinks. You’ll find plenty of food at conventions which makes it tempting to save some bag room by just grabbing stuff while you’re there, but frankly the price of food and drink at these events is absurd. Now, I generally champion supporting businesses where possible, but the huge inflation of prices makes eating at a convention very, very expensive. Take a few snacks with you, and pack some water to sip on the way round because the crowds tend to make the whole place kind of hot.

– But do check if bag searches will be in operation. To put it bluntly bag searches are about as effective as airport searches when it comes to catching potential threats, which is to say they aren’t. But still, buildings hosting conventions will often employ these to help people feel safer, which also means you might get any drinks and other things confiscated on the way in. Chec before you attend to see if these searches will be happening. I got caught out no long ago when I went to 4TG and bag searching was not stated anywhere on the event site. They took my bottle of Coke away. Damn you random security guard. Damn you.

– Take out money beforehand. Many sellers at a convention will take card payment these days, but many won’t and guests doing signings will typically want cash. While there are often ATMs at a convention the queues tend to be massive, so visit a bank or ATM before the event and stock up on pennies.

– Budget. Another good reason to take out some cash before the event is that it makes it easier to limit your spending. Cards are great, but let’s face it, it’s pretty easy to get carried away with spending. By picking a limit and then putting that amount of money in your bag or wallet or pocket it’s much easier to keep your spending in check as you can visibly see your funds dwindling.

– Shop around. It’s so tempting when you see something to immediately whip our your money and start flinging it at the seller, but show some patience and have a look around. Provided the item you’ve seen isn’t one of a kind or of a very limited stock it’ll still be there later on, and that gives you time to see if anybody else at the convention is selling it for a better price. You could also consider checking online. Now, I advocate buying from the sellers at the conventions where possible, even if the prices there are a bit higher than you’d pay online, but there are times when sellers massively mark up their prices so it might be an idea to head onto the Internet and see how much cheaper it might be. If the price difference is significant, then maybe you should wait until you get home to order it. If it’s not too bad, go ahead and support a local seller.

– Buy later. Again, it’s tempting to just grab stuff as soon as you see it, but keep in mind that you might still have hours and hours of convention time left where you have to carry that item with you. That’s extra weight while you walk. Provided it’s not a limited item or one of a kind consider going back to buy it later in the day. If you are worried about it disappearing ask the seller if they’d consider keeping it back for you. I’ve done this a few times when I’ve been buying unique things, sometimes agreeing to pay half the price as a deposit or even the full amount upfront. Many sellers are happy to do this for you. Try to get something written, though, so when you come back later you’ve got some physical proof just in case.

– Haggle. Many sellers are willing to haggle price with you if you try, but this is especially true of the various people selling their own comics. They’re quite willing to do you a deal for multiple issues in most cases, so it does no harm to haggle a little.

– Take photos, but ask first. Taking photos is pretty much expected at a convention, especially since there are so many awesome costumes on display, but the general rule, as you’ll see written on most convention’s guidelines, is to ask permission before taking a picture. For cosplayers this also gives them the chance to get into a pose. Of course general shots of crowds and queues are the exception since you can’t be expected to ask for permission from hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

– Battery power! Another obvious one, but make sure any tech you’re taking is fully charged. If you’re going to be using a phone to take pictures then consider investing in a power bank to take with you so that you don’t run out of juice. This is especially important if you need to be able to call a taxi or something after the event, although generally the building’s reception is happy to help.

– Brush up on the rules. If you intend on going in costume make sure you thoroughly read the rules and regulations surrounding prop weapons, as many things simply aren’t allowed.

– Just have fun, yeah? –

Nerding It Up At MCM Glasgow Comic-Con 2017 (Plus A Guide To ‘Conning) On stage voice actor Troy Baker talks about how we all have our nerd, from those of us who love comics or Star Wars or movies to the people who are obsessed with engines or skiing or racing or anything else.

#2017 #comic-con #Glasgow #MCM Comic-con

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carriecsun · 7 years

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A Cosplayer’s Guide to Colored Contacts and Eye Safety

I’m a cosplayer, I’ve worn contacts for almost 18 years, and I’ve seen so much horrifyingly dangerous behavior with colored contacts and general eye safety in the pursuit of our hobby that it makes me want to scream. I’ve ranted about this before on Twitter (and often) so I decided to make a megapost about it. I AM NOT EXAGGERATING ABOUT FUCKING UP YOUR EYES FOREVER. I have seen people LOSE AN EYE or get permanent eye damage from unsafe behavior; I’ve also seen people carted off to the hospital over it. Colored contacts and heavy eye makeup can be entirely safe, but you have to know how to use and wear them properly! This post will be very long, but I encourage everyone who has an interest in colored lenses (especially circle lenses!) or cosplay makeup to read it. I don’t want you to lose an eye. DO NOT USE CHUNKY GLITTER NEAR YOUR EYE. I’m putting this before the contact lens tips because this is the single most dangerous thing that I see people, even without contact lenses, doing on a regular basis. Glitter can scratch your eye or even puncture the cornea. If you don’t believe me, google “imgur glitter eye” for the multi-album story of a woman who LOST HER EYE from an accident with craft glitter while playing with her daughter.

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SEE A GODDAMN EYE DOCTOR FIRST. Yes, even if you have 20/20 vision. Whether it’s from dry eyes or corneal abnormalities, not everyone can wear contacts. I myself am totally fine wearing regular contacts, but thanks to the shape of my eye, I run a risk of tearing off my goddamn cornea if I wear sclera (full eye) lenses. Now imagine if I hadn’t asked my optometrist first and wore them anyway… Yeah. In the USA, you can get fitted really inexpensively for colored lenses at Wal-Mart; say it’s for a costume and you’re good to go. IF YOU CAN’T USE CONTACTS, DON’T USE CONTACTS. I wouldn’t think this would need to be said but I’ve seen people try to use contacts anyway because anime or something. You don’t need contacts for cosplay! People almost never used them back in the day. And if you really want your eyes to match, use Photoshop after the fact. HYGIENE IS EVERYTHING. I’m going to keep coming back to this, but keep in mind: you CAN get infections in your eye, and if you aren’t careful, you will. Wash your hands before putting in contacts. Wash your hands before doing eye makeup. Wash your goddamn hands period. With VERY RARE exceptions (and 99% of them are if you are using blind-look mesh contacts), you always want to put the lenses in BEFORE you start in with your moisturizer/primer/makeup. Putting the lenses on afterwards means you’re extremely likely to get germs and makeup film on your lenses. Learn how to sanitize your makeup brushes and your pencil sharpener. DO NOT EVER share eye makeup with friends. Sanitize your personal eye makeup brushes (that only you use) weekly and sharpen your eye pencils with a clean sharpener before each use. If this seems like overkill just remember, if you contract pink eye, you will have to throw out all of your contacts and all of your eye makeup that you’ve used within a week before contracting it… that could be a LOT of money to throw away! Contact solution is contact solution. Do not substitute anything else. You need to rinse your contact? Great! Use contact solution! I’ve seen people use things like tap water or saliva and that’s just asking for severe eye pain. The only acceptable substitute is contact lens safe eye drops, and even that is an emergency-only substitute that you should avoid using. NEVER wear a lens straight from the vial. seriously, don’t fucking do this. The storage solution in contact lens vials is meant to hold the lenses shelf stable and safe for far longer than the time you can wear it safely, but it’s also really nasty to your eye. It can cause irritation and worse. Always take the lens from the vial, rinse it separately, and then let it soak in normal lens solution for at least eight hours/overnight before you wear it! (Lenses in daily blister packs are fine to put straight in your eye, though.) When in doubt, throw it out. Yeah, I know contact lenses cost money. But seriously, your eye is worth more than any lens. Here’s a brief list of several times to throw the lens out: when it’s expired (make sure you remember the expiration date by writing it on the bottom of your lens case with a sharpie and/or saving the purchase emails) when the lens has dried out (I know it’s really tempting to pour more contact lens solution into the case and try to revive that potato chip lens, but trust me, that’s dangerous! see next two bullet point) when the lens is visibly damaged (torn lenses are not fun to put in your eye) when the lens is NOT visibly damaged, you’ve prepared it properly, but it hurts to put in your eye (not all tears are visible without some form of magnification but they’re just as capable of causing pain and/or corneal damage! Alternatively, you could have a defective lens.) Be careful with your lens cases. Did you know lens cases can expire too? It’s true! Bacteria can accumulate in and around the lens case and that’s going to counteract all your effort to keep the lenses sterile and safe. Replace your lens case whenever it starts to look gunky. And be wary of the cute animal cases you get from most lens stores! You can use them (I do myself) but they’re more prone to leaks and/or evaporation than most other types, so you’ll need to make extra-sure you’re on top of changing the solution. CHANGE YOUR SOLUTION. Once every two weeks for lenses you haven’t worn lately (take the lens out, rinse it, take out all the old lens solution, replace solution, put lens back in), and every single time you wear the lens. Storing your freshly worn lens in old solution is a great way to get bacteria on your lens. We don’t want that. Storing lenses for too long in the same solution can lead to the solution’s water evaporating and the salt staying, and anybody who’s ever put in an overly salty contact lens knows exactly the eye pain that will cause. Avoid this by changing your solution frequently! Only buy colored contacts from reputable stores. And reputable well known! Pinky Paradise is very well known. They also shipped me multiple defective contacts so I stopped using them. Search for reviews of the store, both negative and positive. GEO lenses have a scratch-off anti-fake system that can be quite reassuring if you’re interested in trying a store without a ton of reviews. Don’t wear colored contacts for too long. Yeah, I know. Anime cons. You’re really not supposed to wear colored lenses for more than ~6 hours at a time, but you can’t always stick to that at a convention. Still, make sure that you take out your lens when your eyes get tired! You can fix photos with the “wrong” eye color with image editing. Also see… NEVER SLEEP IN YOUR CONTACTS WTF WHY PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS!!! This is one of the worst things you can do to your eyes. I accidentally fell asleep in contacts once, in middle school, and that was enough to convince me to never do it again; it is the most uncomfortable thing. But if knowing you’ll be waking up with your eyes in pain isn’t enough to convince you, please consider that extreme cases from people sleeping in contacts have lead to losing a cornea, parasites infesting the eye, or even loss of eye from eye damage! You don’t want this. Don’t sleep in colored contacts. Take them out before you party or when you start to feel tired. Be wary of redness-reducing eyedrops. I know that they’re really nice; I have my own favorite drops and don’t go to conventions without them even! But there are three potential problems here: 1) not all redness relief eyedrops are safe for contacts and you risk destroying your contacts this way, 2) you risk masking eye damage with the numbing effect, and 3) overuse of redness relief drops can lead to a condition where blood vessels grow across your cornea. All of these are very bad. JUST DON’T WEAR THE COLORED CONTACTS IF ANYTHING FEELS BAD!!! Your eye hurts when it goes in? Take it out! You feel like there’s dust in your eye? Take it out! Your eyes start hurting for any reason whatsoever? TAKE OUT THE GODDAMN CONTACTS!!! AND NOW FOR SOME EXTREME DANGER. DON’T FOLLOW ANY “DIY COLORED CONTACTS” TUTORIALS. You’d think people would realize not to do this, but I have seen tutorials for “DIY contacts” consisting of everything from soaking in food dye (NO!) to coloring them with a sharpie (WTF NO) to MAKING YOUR OWN HARD FULL-EYE CONTACTS WITH A SODA BOTTLE AND PAX PAINT (I AM SHRIEKING AT THE THOUGHT)!!! Don’t do any of this. It’s like you WANT to ruin your eyes. It’s the worst. IT IS ALSO VERY DANGEROUS TO WEAR YOUR REGULAR CLEAR PRESCRIPTION CONTACTS AND THEN LAYER NONPRESCRIPTION COLOR ONES ON TOP. People used to try this A LOT around 10 years ago when it was harder to get color contacts in prescription. It was fucking dangerous then, and it’s fucking dangerous now. Don’t do it. Don’t even think it. A VERY PARTIAL LIST OF HORRIBLE THINGS I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE DO FIRSTHAND AND YOU SHOULD NEVER DO ANY OF THESE: Drop a contact lens on the public bathroom floor, pick it up, lick it, and stick it in their eye buy a lens from a shady vendor on the con floor, struggle to put it in directly from the vial in the public bathroom, and start asking around if anybody has experience with putting contacts cause this is their absolute first time trying it put in a contact lens that hurts, leave it in because they didn’t know any better, and wind up irritating their eye so much that they get sent to the “this lens expired two years ago but I should be fine!” use the bathroom, don’t wash their hands, put on makeup, still don’t wash their hands, put lens in do I need to continue or are you all cringing enough yet Contact lenses and extreme makeup can be perfectly safe to wear… the trick is knowing how to wear them safely. Be smart. Be safe. Treat your eyes with care. Original Source:http://silencedrowns.tumblr.com/post/156947721218/a-cosplayers-guide-to-colored-contacts-and-eye

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